


Piece by Piece

by hpwlwbb, Owlpostart (Owlpostings), peace_wisepenguin, theatricalities



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ace!Neville, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Asexual Character, Awkward!first kiss, Best Friends, Bisexual!Ginny, Body Image, Chronically Ill Remus Lupin, Coach!Sirius, Demi!Luna, F/F, First Kiss, Fish & Chips, Fluff, HP WLW BB, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, POV Third Person Omniscient, Professor!Remus, Recreational Drinking, bullying(not between the main characters), demisexual realization, homophobia(not between the main characters), minor Wolfstar, oblivious!Luna, past sexual experimentation, pining!Ginny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpwlwbb/pseuds/hpwlwbb, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlpostings/pseuds/Owlpostart, https://archiveofourown.org/users/peace_wisepenguin/pseuds/peace_wisepenguin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/theatricalities/pseuds/theatricalities
Summary: Ginny and Luna meet at uni and become fast friends. Ginny crushes on Luna right away but Luna might be asexual.orGinny loves Luna while they geek out and cosplay and learn how to love each other, platonically and romantically.
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom & Ginny Weasley
Comments: 21
Kudos: 42
Collections: HP WLW BB 2020





	1. Club/Society Day

**Author's Note:**

> **Author's Notes:** Well this is my second fest posting and I'm so nervous but I've had so much fun! This was a great learning experience and I want to thank Violet and Frnkly for being wonderful and considerate people during this whole process. Tea, Charlotte and Kit have all been very kind and understanding for me being so new to all of this and I am very thankful to them for all of their hard work. Last but very not least the amazing, the awe inspiring, the glorious Aamina, who is the most amazing Beta in the whole wide world!! Thank you. Thank You. You are a beatiful soul, please check her out! https://aamina-edits-things.tumblr.com/ 
> 
> **Artist** [32090810](https://32090810.tumblr.com/) (Tumblr), [coralines](https://coralines.livejournal.com) (LJ), [coralines](https://coralines.dreamwidth.org) (DW)  
>  **Medium:** digital  
>  **Artist’s Notes:** This was a fun composition to draw, hope you enjoy!
> 
>  **Artist** [everyoneinspaceisgay](https://everyoneinspaceisgay.tumblr.com/) (Tumblr)  
> Medium: traditional media (pencil)  
>  **Artist’s Notes:** This was my first fest doing art and my first Big Bang and I've had an incredible time. Working with has been really fun and I was also happy because Linny is a ship close to my heart. It was good to be able to use so much colour and I hope that the closeness and warmth I tried to convey comes through!
> 
>  **Artist** [Owlpostart](https://owlpostart.tumblr.com/) (Tumblr)  
>  **Medium:** Acrylic paint, gouache, crayon, collage and photoshop  
>  **Artist’s Notes:** Thank you to the mods for yet again running this wonderful fest. And to Peace_wisepenguin, it felt particularly serendipitous to pinch hit for your fic as the subject matter is something very close to my own heart, having come to terms with my own asexuality over the past couple of years. It's been a pleasure to work with you. <3

On the first day of the second week of the semester, Club Day, all the clubs on campus gather around the main courtyard for new students to sample the different selection of clubs, friends, and societies to join. Luna Lovegood is not a new student; she’s in her second year but as a reporter for the school newspaper, this is her first assigned piece. She’s never really been one for clubs or societies in general, she’s a lone wolf (probably because most people find her a bit odd) but she is true to herself and that is all that matters. 

As she walks around the courtyard, she’s very nervous, trying to take in everything, the people, the smells, the energy in the air. She wants her article to be superb—obviously that isn’t realistic but she’ll try her best. Every society seems as unique as each person involved, she loves seeing the cultural mix of the university, the different souls running around like they have a clue what they’re doing with their lives. It makes her smile to see people being themselves, embracing their passions and connecting with others that are similar.

There are many different clubs vying for her attention: photography club, physics club, magicians’ club. Luna notes the least populated clubs as she walks around the courtyard to try and give them some free publicity in her article. After getting the general feel of the area— who is around, what the vibe is,—she comes across the LGBTQ+ club and a tall ginger boy who’s handing out flyers.

“Hi there! Are you looking for great friends and…and a good time?” 

Luna laughs a little at the cheesy line, and the boy looks confused but he keeps going, “If you’re a member of the community already, we’re a really great way to meet new friends and find some help or support, if you’re looking for it.” 

“I’m actually writing an article on society day for the school newspaper,” Luna says with a smile on her face, “but I’d love to interview you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Oh, I’m not the one you want to interview. I’m just a member, a supporter. My best friend is the President, so he’s the one you want to talk with. But they are a really great club to be a part of.”

Luna is always excited to find new friends; it’s just friends aren’t always excited to find her. She’s a little apprehensive, but she sees the flyer in his hand, which says in big, bold, colorful letters, ‘LGBTQ+ Club: where everyone fits in.’ Maybe she could fit in here, she thinks “I’d love to speak with your friend then, are they around?”

“You know what, I don’t...actually..see him.” The boy looks around and suddenly perks up. 

“Hey!! Nev!!! Come on over here!!” He waves over a taller, very skinny boy who’s wearing a vest over his jumper—in August. He turns back to Luna. “This is Neville. He’s the Vice President. Oh, and I’m Ron by the way.”

“I’m Luna. Nice to meet both of you. Neville, I am a writer for the school paper, and I was hoping to get an interview, maybe talk about the club and outreach you might do or how to get support or help.”

“I’d love to. That will really help a lot of people out. Some people still don’t take us seriously.” Neville looks at some of the other club tables and looks back at Luna. “Are you a member? I don’t think I’ve seen you around.” Neville starts walking toward the group’s table and Luna follows.

“Oh no, I don’t really know what I am or anything like that. I just came across your group and it drew me in.” She smiles at him innocently.  
Neville looks at her, a little concerned. “What do you mean you don’t really know what you are?”

“I mean LGBTQ+ stuff.” Luna gets a little flustered and starts using her hands more than usual. She doesn't want to offend anyone. “I don’t think about it all too much.”

“Are you ace?”

“I don’t…know what that means…is it being cool?”

A soft voice comes from behind Luna, “I mean I think I’m cool and I’m not ace.” Luna turns around to see a laughing, red-headed girl that looks very familiar, but Luna can’t put her finger on it right away.

Neville punches her in the arm when she comes to stand next to him. “Yeah well we’re a lot cooler than you!! So calm your tits.” The redhead's eyes widen and she falls to her knees dramatically.

Suddenly, Neville gets hit with a water balloon, square in the chest, just as the girl who knelt down only seconds earlier falls back on the floor laughing at Neville and Luna’s feet.  
Luna isn’t used to such chaos.

Neville looks very upset and starts to take off his vest and jumper, revealing an undershirt, “HARRY JAMES POTTER, I WILL MURDER YOU!!!!!” Neville starts marching toward a smaller boy with glasses and a light tie-dye shirt that says ‘Queen,’ in pink and gold letters, with his hair sticking up like he just rolled out of bed.

Suddenly, Luna is pulled down to the floor by the ginger girl. “Be careful, Nev and Harry act like they fight a lot, but when they team up, there’ll be no place to hide!” She seems very excited about all of this and Luna tries to go along with the ride. As a few water balloons fall near them, the redhead pushes a table over for cover and kneels up close to Luna so that they are protected. It’s us against them now—sorry what’s your name?”

“Luna Lovegood.”

“Oh, that’s what I like to hear!!” she says with a wink. “I’m Weasley, Ginny Weasley.” Luna doesn’t get what is so great to hear about her name, and then has a thought…did Ginny just make a sex joke? A water balloon suddenly hits her foot and Ginny pulls her closer, she reaches behind and pulls a bag out, handing Luna a balloon. “Are you ready?”

Luna just takes the balloon and nods, wide-eyed and with a mischievous smile on her face. The two girls stand up and pelt the boys with balloons. Water explodes between the two pairs of playful students, until they hear a purposeful voice come from not too far away. “What in the name of…?? Have you all gone mad?!”

Luna looks to Ginny since the voice is out of sight, her bright brown eyes glowing with fear, which makes Luna very nervous. As Ginny stands up slowly, Luna follows, seeing Harry and Neville also walking slowly toward the voice.

A very tall man wearing a worn-in brown suit stands with his arms crossed. Luna joins the other students in their anguish as they reach the man who is quite obviously a professor. He speaks, while they all hang their heads and Luna watches from behind.

“Did we not discuss how to behave properly?”

“Sorry, Professor Lupin,”they all say solemnly. Luna whispers ‘sorry’ under her breath, but the Professor seems to have wonderful hearing. 

He looks to Luna. “I’m sorry, I’m not scolding you. Did they drag you into this?”

“No professor, I joined by way of convenience.” Luna said spritely, and her remark makes the professor laugh.

“Well, I’m Professor Lupin. I help advise the club, and I also teach Medieval Arts and Literature.” He reaches out to shake her hand and she takes it.

“Luna Lovegood, I’m a writer for the school newspaper.”

“Oh no, please don’t write about this.” He says it with a smile on his face, almost as if he wants her to do it but he has to keep the air of professionalism about him. Then he turns to the boy with the glasses, “And Harry, did we not specifically talk about the use of water balloons in the courtyard? What did we say?” Harry starts to get a smile on his face, like he’s in on a joke that no one else knows about.

“That glitter balloons are so much better!!” Another tall man comes up from behind Professor Lupin with a normal looking balloon. He puts his hand close to it, and the balloon pops, glitter exploding in the air and mostly sticking to the students, who are all wet. The man starts laughing, and Professor Lupin smiles after dusting glitter out of his hair. 

“Come here!!” Lupin says, and he grabs the other man and puts him in a headlock.

Luna has never seen people act this way, especially professors. She has always been picked on for being herself, for not committing to the normal standards of society. She has never really come across anyone else of her kind. She feels very free around this group of people that she has only known for about fifteen minutes. Making friends has always been a favorite to-do of Luna’s, but they never stay long; people don’t like how blunt she can be, or her carefree mind, which usually comes up with the most fantastical of ideas that only ever prove to be great in hindsight. Everyone is always so well spoken, standing up straight, acting as polite as one could ever be, doing what is expected, but these people—this group—they’re just...this situation… his just seems…fantastic! 

Harry grabs Neville and starts fox trotting across the courtyard covered in glitter, singing ‘God Save the Queen,’ while Ginny seems not to even notice she’s covered in glitter and sounds very excited to see the other man. “Coach!!” She screams as she jumps on Professor Lupin to save her coach from the attack, and Luna feels like she’s on the sidelines of some sort of sitcom. 

“How’s it going over here? Got any new sign ups?” The ‘Coach’ asks, shaking off the headlock, and then looking over at Luna, “Oh, I didn’t realize we had company. Sirius Black, or Coach, whatever you prefer; I’m the girls football coach.”

“Luna Lovegood, writer for the school paper.”

“Well, ‘Luna Lovegood, writer for the school paper,’ it’s nice to meet you.” He sounds like the type to make a lot of ‘dad’ jokes. “Are you a new member?” Coach Black asks.

“I haven’t really decided yet.”

“Oh you should join!!” Ginny interjects. “You seem like our type!! And you don’t have to be LGBTQ+ to join; my brother supports us all the time and he’s straight.”

Luna responds with a wide grin, “You all seem very fun as well. I enjoyed this very much.” It’s true, she’s never had this type of interaction with other people before. “I wish Neville would come back; I’m supposed to interview him.”

“Well, I can do that. I'm the head of social outreach,” Ginny says, suddenly lowering her voice to sound a bit more sensual and batting her eyes a bit. “Maybe we can go sit somewhere and talk, are you hungry?”

“Umm...” Luna is usually up for some good food, but Ginny is very energetic. Neville is more her speed of a human being. “Well, I did already start with Neville and…”

“Ohhhh, come on,” Ginny begs, “if you’re hungry, my mum runs the fish and chips shop down the street. Why don’t we go there?”

“Sounds lovely!” Luna responds, a little nervous to go somewhere with this strange new girl— new friend? She did have a good time with the girl, but Luna isn’t sure she can keep up with the enthusiastic redhead.

Professor Lupin smirks at the girls as they leave to get food, and he bats away Coach Black’s finger poking him in the side. “Do you remember how difficult it was, when we were young?” Lupin asks, pulling the other man into him. Black wraps his arms around Lupin's neck.

“I remember sneaking into Professor Binns’ classroom to shag on the desk so we’d have something to smile about in history class.” Lupin laughs out loud at this.

“We did get up to some naughty stuff in school. I can’t believe we actually work here now.”

“You work. I get to play football all day!!”

Professor Lupin puts an arm around Coach Black, and they walk toward Harry and Neville who’re now trying to straighten out the mess they had created earlier.


	2. Fish & Chips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Possible TW: **Ginny tells the story of how she realized she was bi, this includes sexually experimenting with different people consensually along with her boyfriend. She doesn't go into detail though.****

Luna and Ginny walk into the shop. It’s packed with students and doesn’t look like there’s a place to stand, let alone sit down and eat.

“Don’t worry,” Ginny grabs Luna’s hand, “there’s a table in the back room just for us Weasleys.”

As they walk behind the counter and through the cramped kitchen, they’re stopped by a tall red-headed young man who also looks very familiar. Luna starts to notice a pattern. “Excuse me, but you can’t just bring your dates through the kitchen Ginny.”

“She’s not a date, she’s my friend, Percy!” Ginny scolds the man. “I’m not romantically involved with everyone I talk to, you know!!” He scoffs at her, but she just shoves him out of the way, bringing Luna along with her.

They finally reach the table. It’s actually very small, but the sounds of the many students in the front can’t be heard by an eagle back here. It’s so quiet in this room, albeit a very small room, with only a microwave and the table with two chairs. “Sorry about my brother, he’s very ‘formal’ if you catch me. He’s not too happy with my ‘hedonism’ as he calls it.” She uses air quotes and shakes her head.

“It’s alright, you don’t have to worry. I get picked on a lot, so it doesn’t bother me much anymore.” Luna says this with complete confidence, like nothing is wrong. Ginny seems upset about it though.

“It should bother you. People shouldn’t be picking on anyone, for anything, let alone just being who they are.” Ginny sounds like she’s about to make a very fervent speech before Luna responds.

“Well it’s not that I’ve gotten used to it to the point where I think they are right. I just don’t let it get to me. I know that they don’t understand me, and people are afraid of things they can’t understand. And I understand that,” Luna says strangely, with a smile on her face.

“Well I’ll never get used to it. I hate it when people treat me differently once they find out I’m bisexual, like it’s some kind of disease. Guys always ask if I do threesomes then, and girls never want to be friends with me because they think I’m going to try and touch them or something. It's like I can’t win and I’m sick of it.”

“Well I’ll be your friend. I don’t care what anyone likes or dislikes. As long as you are a good person, what else really matters?” Luna speaks as though she’s had this conversation before. 

Ginny just smiles at her though. “Thank you. It means a lot, just so you know.”

Luna nods her head and pulls out a notepad and a pencil. “So, what would you like the school to know about your club?”

“Well I suppose that we are inclusive, and supportive, and a lot of fun. Don’t listen to Professor Lupin; he wants you to write about the water balloon fiasco of 2020!!” Ginny starts to chuckle to herself as Luna writes down little notes on her pad—a lot of scribbles and acronyms. “He acts all professory but he’s more of a goofball than any of us. That’s his husband by the way—Coach Black I mean; they started the club together when they attended school here.”

“Oh really?! I’d love to get that story actually!!”

“Oh yeah!! It’s a great story!! Come to our next meeting. I’m sure they’d love to tell you about it.” 

“I might be able to do a special interest piece. That would be some great publicity for your club!”

“Our club.”

“What?”

“Our club. Unless…you weren’t going to join.”

“Oh no! I’m sorry, I meant…I mean…” Luna is trying to find the right words, but the other girl’s energy almost makes her head spin. “Our club,” she settles on with a smile.

“I don’t want to force you. I mean, like I said, you don’t have to be LGBTQ+ to join…” Ginny waits, as if she’s trying to get Luna to respond to something specific.

“Well I don’t really know what I am. I don’t think about stuff like that too often.”

“I heard you talking to Nev about it earlier. He asked you if you were ace, I think.”

“Yes, but I don’t really know what that means.”

“Right...” Ginny forgets that not everyone understands her community. She’s been involved with all of this since she was fifteen years old, and rarely does she come across anyone who is as kind and accepting as Luna who doesn’t know much about gender or sexual identities. “Well I can help teach you. If you're interested in learning, that is.” 

“I’d like that. I love learning new things. It’s always important to keep your mind open.” Luna says with an innocent smile, and Ginny can’t ignore the stirring in her chest when she sees it.

“Great. Well, why don’t I start with myself? I’ll just tell you my story. I was eleven when I first realized that I had a crush on a girl. I thought it was a bit strange, but I have six older brothers, so I thought maybe that was why...I never told anyone and just tried to ignore it. I never realized that it was okay; my parents, mind you, weren’t against it or anything, and I had known Professor Lupin and Coach Black since I was little…oh boy; that’s a whole other story.” 

Ginny shakes her head, trying to stay on track. 

“Well we’ll jump forward to when I was sixteen; I started dating Harry.” She points behind her like he’s standing there, but Luna understands the gesture. “I always had a bit of a crush on him. He’s best friends with my brother Ron you see, and so when we started dating, well it was great. We got to uni and both of us started talking about experimenting…sexually. Now, I wanted to try a threesome...with another girl. I thought my boyfriend would probably be excited, isn’t that what every man wants? Well apparently not!” She starts laughing, “He told me that he wanted to experiment with another boy. So we tried both, and we liked both, so we sort of came out together, as bisexual.”

“Wow, that’s a really interesting story. So did you always know then? Or did you only realize when you finally had sex with another girl?” 

“I think I always knew, but I was afraid until I actually tried it, and then it cemented in me and, in time, I learned to be proud instead of afraid.”

“That’s wonderful. I wish I knew.”

“Well, who do you usually find yourself attracted to?”

Luna looks like a deer in headlights. Ginny starts feeling like she's pushing a bit too much, but Luna responds, nonetheless. “I’m not normally attracted to anyone really. I hear people talking about it, and I wish I was. When I was younger, and my girlfriends would talk about boys and their cute hair or their sexy muscles…well I usually just nod along and repeat something that I’d heard from someone else. I feel like I’m broken sometimes. I did have a crush on my best friend, once. I thought she was attractive, not really at first, I just sort of...noticed one day.”

“Well, it sounds like Nev was on the right track then, you may be demi. Nev’s ace so he would be a great person to talk to about this.” Ginny sees the look on Luna’s face and remembers that she’s not involved in the community very much. “Oh, umm, demi is on the same spectrum as ace but it’s a bit different. It’s sort of like, you don’t feel romantically or sexually attracted, or both, to anyone unless you’ve a connection with them, like a trust between you. Nev would be better at this than me though. I don’t really get it.”

“Well I have gotten close to people and not been attracted to them though.”

“Oh no, it’s not like you feel attracted to everyone that you’re close to, it’s…” Ginny scoffs as she tries to find the right words, “I’m sorry, I might not be the best to help with this actually. All I can say is, just don’t worry about it. These labels, they are just ways to help us communicate and get to know each other; they’re nothing you need to stick to or even use yourself. If you just want to be Luna Lovegood, supporter of equality and newspapers around the world then…be that! And we’ll support you!!” Ginny says with a confident smile. Luna returns her smile and lets out a breath as though a weight has been lifted. 

“That sounds good. I think I will stick to that for now.” Luna says as she chuckles and a heavy-set woman with red hair just like Ginny walks into the room with fresh boats of fish and chips.

“Here you are darlings.”

“OOH! Luna, this is my mum. Mum this is my friend Luna. She’s a reporter,” Ginny says with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“OOHH, you know I used to love writing poetry. Ginny’s father really loved it; he’s a big ol’ softy at heart.”

“MUM!!” Ginny’s mum gets the message very quickly and gives her an exaggerated kiss on the cheek.

“What is all this? Glitter?” Ginny stares hard at her mother with broad eyes. “You’re welcome for the food by the way,” Her mum says with a smile and a wink herself, that is very reminiscent of Ginny’s wink. Ginny is almost as red as her hair; that makes Luna laugh, and Ginny gets even more red, if that were possible. They start to eat when Ginny starts a new conversation.

“So is this what you want to do? Be a reporter?”

“Oh no no,” Luna replies, “I’m actually going for a law degree. Everyone is always surprised. I guess I don’t seem like a lawyer, but I want to help fight the big corporations that are taking people’s livelihoods. I want to fight to help protect people who can’t stand up for themselves.”

“Well that’s wonderful! 

It doesn’t surprise me, by the way.”

Luna looks up from her food. “Why not?” 

“Well, you seem like the type to fight for what’s right, why wouldn’t you want to be a lawyer?”

“Well I’m a bit odd, I guess, so people always think I’ll end up being a writer or an artist or something.”

“I think it’s great.”

“What about you?” Luna sounds like she actually does want to know and not just to be asking the question back, which gives Ginny a whole new energy.

“I’m going for sports medicine. I love sports and my brother, Charlie, well he’s a veterinarian, so I grew up watching him take care of animals and I loved that; I was always taking care of anything I could. At first I thought that’s what I wanted to do, but when I started playing football in school I sprained my ankle and the nurse I had was so mean to me. I thought, ‘I could do a better job than her,’ and it just stuck. It’s just athletes instead, not a big difference.” Ginny starts to laugh at her own joke, and Luna just chuckles as she shoves more chips into her mouth.

> Image Description: An illustration of Luna and Ginny sitting opposite each other at a small round wooden table, chatting and waiting for their fish and chips. Luna is sitting upright with her chin in her left hand and is wearing lilac dungarees, a chunky blue jumper with a bold orange floral pattern, and cream, floral Dr Martens with her hair half up in a bun, half flowing down her back. Ginny is in a relaxed pose as she speaks, leant back with one foot up on the chair, her left arm leaning on the back of the chair and is wearing sporty clothes: trainers, tracksuit bottoms and a green sleeveless top, her hair in a messy ponytail. They both are covered in glitter. Art by owlpostart. End description.

By the end of their conversation the two girls have had a lot of laughs and have gotten to know each other a little bit. Luna has plenty of notes and the date for the next meeting. Ginny has gotten to know Luna’s oddball tendencies and has gotten used to the shy confidence she carries around like a silent weapon. Luna has started to get used to Ginny’s excitable energy and assured attitude toward the world, her ease with people and social situations is astounding to Luna and she feels liberated by it.

“So will I see you at the next meeting?” Ginny asks as she stands up and gathers their trash. 

“Definitely, I can’t wait.” Luna is really looking forward to learning more about this community. It’s quite a new experience for her. After talking with Ginny, she found her energy isn’t so bad, a little chaotic, but Luna has a sneaking feeling that she’s more energetic around her other friends. Maybe Ginny was trying to bring her energy down to Luna’s level? Maybe Luna was bringing her energy up to Ginny’s?

“Well, you have my number if you, you know; if you have any questions, and if not then I’ll see you at the next meeting.” Ginny goes in for a hug, and Luna hits her in the stomach when she goes to shake hands. 

“Oof, I’m so sorry!” Luna yelps. 

“It’s fine, I’m a footballer, remember. Tough as nails,” she says, weaving and laughing with her fists up, and then reaches out one of her hands.


	3. The falling of Ginny Weasley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the POV changes, I'm still learning...

Ginny walks into her dorm, finally dry but still covered in glitter, and shuts the door hard with her back up against it. “Whhhyyyyyyy Nev?!?! Whyyyyyyyyy?!” 

“Please don’t tell me you’ve got it already?” Neville says from the corner of their dorm where he’s watering some of his plants.

Ginny arches her back on the door to propel herself toward the couch and plops herself down, covering her face with her hands “She’s smart and funny and did you see how adorable? Those eyes. I think I may just burst!”

“Well do your bursting outside please; I don’t want to clean anything up in here.”

She removes her hands. “Eww I didn’t mean it literally!!” 

Neville sits down next to her and puts his arm around her. “Well did she act like she may be interested? I thought she might be…”

“Don’t, I already know. We talked about it a bit; she seems like she might be demi-bi or demi-pan, but either way…”

“You need to get over yourself. You let yourself fall in love too quickly. Just give it time and get to know her. Be her FRIEND, because that’s what she needs right now…friends.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I know.” She curls into Neville’s arms. “I just wish things were easier.” Neville just holds her tight. “She’s coming to the next meeting, so I think you should talk to her about it.”

“I will. Don’t worry. Remus wants us to do some canvassing for the newer students. Try and get counseling services numbers out there and the anti-bullying pamphlets.”

“Ok. My schedule is mostly open Tuesday mornings so I can definitely help with that,” Ginny says, knowing even though this is supposed to be a punishment for the water balloons, she would have been happy to do it anyway.

“Great, you can go with…” He stops abruptly and looks like he suddenly shoved a lemon in his mouth. “Maybe not.”

“Who’s going before lunch?”

Neville looks around the room and says softly, “Cho.” 

Ginny rolls her eyes. “I can work with her, I don’t mind, Nev.”

“It’s not awkward?” This makes Ginny move out of Neville’s embrace, still sitting close and she crosses her arms across her chest. She is getting a little indignant.

“Maybe for her. Doesn’t bother me.” 

“Well I’d rather avoid your passive aggressive nature toward her.” Neville says, as if they’ve already talked about this.

“I am not passive-aggressive toward her!!” Ginny is offended.

“Oh really? So anytime she has an idea and you shoot it down, it’s because…?”

“Maybe she just has bad ideas, did you ever think of that?” says Ginny, getting a little closer to Neville’s face, challenging him.

Neville leans back like she has bad breath and says under his breath, “Bad ideas in bed maybe?”

Ginny opens her mouth in shock and grins wildly. “OH YOU!!!” Ginny tackles Neville and they both fall off of the couch, tangled up in each other, laughing.

****

Neville likes to get his day started early, although he is NOT a morning person, it is Tuesday and the sun has not yet peaked on the horizon. He walks around the dorm, checking his plants—some of them prefer to be watered in the early hours of the morning. 

His tea is usually done just as he finishes nurturing his foliage. The big yellow armchair near the window is his favorite place to sit: he curls up there every morning with an orange throw that seems much too bright for their dimly colored dorm, but it always makes him feel like he’s starting his day right. As he approaches the chair, he steps close to bend over and reach the shaggy throw and suddenly a jolt: his sock is soaked.

He lifts his foot and looks down to see a puddle of water on the floor. He must’ve spilled some while watering. Too tired, he sits on the floor next to the puddle, tugging his wet sock from his foot and huffing and puffing to himself. Neville isn’t very useful in the mornings, especially before his tea, so he decides it best to soak up the rest of the puddle with his shirt; he’s worn the same shirt to bed for four nights, probably time for a wash. It is just then, of course, that Ginny decides to join him.

“What on earth are you doing, Nev? You’re missing a shirt and a sock, you know?” she teases, as she heads toward the kitchen in her bright red shorts and a blue and grey striped shirt, hair a mess and one sock falling off just slightly.

“I spilled some water during my rounds, and I didn’t feel like going to grab anything to mop it up. You know?” he says teasingly. Ginny just rolls her eyes and takes the wet shirt and sock to throw them into the laundry. “Tea’s ready!” he yells once she has left the room.

“I could smell it; I think that’s what woke me up,” she replies as she finishes pouring her tea.

Neville is finally in his armchair of safety, wrapped up in his throw of tranquility—nothing can bother him now. He bends his head backwards, leaning on the back of the chair, grasping his tea.

“Luna still hasn’t texted me, and the meeting is today. Do you think she’ll show?” Ginny knows he doesn’t enjoy the conversations about her love interests, but Luna came out of nowhere, and now the blonde haired girl is all Ginny can think about. 

Okay, maybe some things could bother him. “I’m sure she’ll show, but if she’s demi, Gin, she probably thought you were just being kind. I never expect people actually want me to call them when they give me their numbers.”

“Yes, I remember having to convince you to be my friend.”

“You never had to convince me,” he says, laughing a little, “I just have trouble showing it sometimes.”

“Well,” she starts as she sits on the couch and takes a sip of her tea while wrapping herself in a purple blanket with a unicorn on it, “it was miserable, but worth it.” She gives him a wink. “So you think she’ll be there?”

“Gin, look…” He pauses, trying to find the proper words. “I think you should stop worrying about Luna. She’s made it this far without you, and you’ve given her a way to contact you if she wants, and she knows where to go if she needs help. She’s not gonna become interested for a while, if she ever even gets there, so if she does show up, just be her friend.”

All of the angst drains from Ginny’s face and is replaced by a stream of discouraging realization. Neville hates making his best friend look this way but he knows it’s what she needs to hear. Ginny falls in and out of love so often, she has a huge heart and she enjoys sharing it with people. Sometimes Neville helps bring her back to reality, while she does just the opposite for him.

“I know that you’re right. I just…I liked her a lot.”

“You can still like her. Just don’t expect anything.”

She nods her head and slides further into the couch, as if she is trying to melt into it. Neville’s phone starts to ring. He looks at it and excuses himself. Ginny starts going through her phone, looking for a distraction from her love life. She thinks about messaging one of her exes, but the Neville-like voice in her head stops her. It’s only six am, no one would be up yet anyway. She gulps down the rest of her tea and throws her blanket away to start getting ready for the day ahead.

****

It’s almost two o’clock and Ginny is jogging to Lupin’s classroom after being in the library studying. She’s almost late—club officers are supposed to arrive ten minutes before the start of the meeting which was, of course, all the way on the other side of campus. She bursts into the room, trying to catch her breath, even for someone who runs three miles a day, running when you’re late is just exhausting.

When she explodes into the room she stops at a desk and leans over it, breathing heavily. “I’m here! Not late. Not late.”

Harry is next to her quickly. “Are you alright? What’s happened?” he asks kindly, placing one hand on her back and the other on her shoulder to steady her. She’s heaving breaths in and out.

“My physiology professor...has decided to give us…an exam already!! That’s what’s happened!!” She breathes deeply. Harry leads her over to a chair. She sits and looks around to see who’s there. No Luna. 

“What?! What kind of professor gives an exam during the second week of the term?!” Ron exclaims.

“I bet it’s Hooch! Are you taking Hooch?” Harry asks. Ginny just nods, still trying to catch her breath. “She’s a cunt!”

“HARRY!!” yells Lupin, firmly. 

“Sorry Uncle Moony.” Harry hangs his head but looks a little annoyed.

Remus lets out a breath as he walks over to him and says softly, so only Harry, and, incidentally, Ginny, can hear, “Harry, you shouldn’t talk like that at school. It’s alright when we’re home but you’re speaking of one of my colleagues. Understand?”

Harry responds like a child in trouble who knows just how to get out of it. “Of course. I am sorry. It’s just…we’re all so comfortable here. I feel like we are at home sometimes.” He ends his apology with a smile that has always made Remus forgive him right away, a smile that is so reminiscent of James.

“Don’t worry.” Lupin grabs Harry and pulls him into a hug. “And it's Professor Lupin at school, remember?” he says with a playful smile. He and Harry laugh a little and start to walk away; then a voice behind Ginny makes her jump.

“So Professor Lupin is Harry’s uncle?” Luna asks calmly, as if Ginny’s known she’s been there the whole time. “Oh sorry,” she says with a giggle, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“No, I just…I didn’t see you come in, that’s all.” Ginny replies.

“I’m surprised. You ran right past me on your way here.”

“Did I? I thought I was going to be late, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. You know that I’m here now. So I guess you are all like family, literally?”

“Well,” Ginny smiles at the thought of their complicated little family and how they all came together so long ago, “none of us are technically blood except Ron and me. Professor Lupin and Coach Black raised Harry since he was a baby—Coach Black, or Sirius, is his godfather and,” Ginny’s voice drops, “Harry...his parents died in a car crash when he was only a year old.”

“Oh my.” Luna covers her mouth looking around the room at Harry and how happy he looks, how free he seems to feel. Her whole demeanor changes as she starts reminiscing about her own haunted past. “I lost my mother a few years back. It was the hardest thing. I can’t…I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have never even known her.”

“I’m sorry, Luna.” Ginny places her hand on Luna’s knee. Luna smiles at her gesture and waits for Ginny to keep going. Ginny sees that Luna doesn’t want to talk about her mum, so she goes on. “Sirius and Remus, that’s Professor Lupin, would send Harry to my mum for babysitting, and he and Ron hit it off right away. Nev and I met in primary school. He has his own tragic backstory, but he doesn’t like to talk about it, so I don’t either. Everyone else just fades in and out occasionally, but we all still love each other very much.”

“I’d very much like to be a part of your little family here. I really enjoy it, being a part of the group.” It is amazing how easily Luna feels like she belongs to this group of people; she doesn’t feel like she has to hide anything or that anything is expected of her at all.

“Well, we’d love to have you join! You should’ve called me during the week; we could’ve hung out more often. You know, just get to know each other. And be friends. Good friends. And all that…you know…”

Although Luna seems very interested in what Ginny is saying, Neville hears Ginny starting to flounder and he stands up to start the meeting. He abruptly cuts off the two girls’ conversation and hopefully saves Ginny from some embarrassment. They go over the normal business,—how to connect with more people, trying to have a presence on campus so people know there’s a safe space, some time set aside to talk with each other about their experiences. Luna feels very excited about getting involved. This is exactly what she’s always wanted, to find friends that she connects with and to help people in need all in one go. Harry reminds everyone that someone still needs to get the flyers copied.

“I can do that,” Cho Chang states while she raises her hand. As Harry is about to nod, Ginny interrupts.

“No. I’ll get that done; I need to head back to the library anyway,” she says snidely, dead-pan, looking straight at Cho. Harry knows how Ginny can be; it’s always safer to go with her way of doing things.

“Great. Thank you, Ginny. Cho, why don’t you work on planning the next outreach event,” Harry says, trying to keep the peace. Cho just nods and just as Ginny is starting to feel triumphant, she sees Neville raising an eyebrow at her, tilting his head with a knowing look. She crosses her arms in a pout after her short-lived victory over Cho. 

After the meeting, Neville takes Luna aside to talk with her while Harry comes back up to Ginny. “Hey Gin, we’re going to a club tomorrow night. It just opened last week.”

“We’ve heard it's fantastic! They play a lot of early 2000s music,” Ron adds.

“Sure, I think I can drag Nev out for a night. Who else is coming?”

“The regulars, Seamus and Dean, Lav, Katie, Angie…” Harry’s voice becomes more like a whisper, “Pansy.” It raises back to a normal tone, “You know everyone. You should tell Luna to join us!”

“Did you say Pansy?” Ginny says while giving him a little nudge. “Does that mean…?” She nudges him harder and her eyebrows jump up and down.

Harry pushes her off, “Yes, yes. Draco will probably be there. But that doesn’t mean anything. I’m not going to do anything; I wouldn’t touch him with a fishing rod.”

“Please!!” She’s got a huge smile on her face. Anytime she can tease Harry, she takes the opportunity. “You always say that and two beers in you’re snogging in the corner like it’s your only way of receiving oxygen.” Lupin chokes on the water he just sipped, shocked by her comment about a boy he’s raised for almost twenty years. Ginny and Harry both find this wildly amusing.

Harry and Ron leave, and Lupin starts cleaning so that he can lock the room up. Ginny joins Neville and Luna and tells them about the club.

“Do we have to? You know I can only take so much.” Neville doesn’t like going out too often; when he does he usually ends up standing at the bar avoiding everyone all night.

“You don’t have to, but I think we’d have fun.” She gives him that look she gets when she just needs to have someone to stay by her side.

“Fine. Luna you should come too, meet the rest of us,” Neville says to Luna.

“I’ve never been to a club before. I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself.”

“That’s okay! You can come to Ginville and get ready!! We can help you get ready.” She moves her fingers through Luna's long blonde hair. “You’ve got beautiful hair!”

Luna starts to get excited about the process of getting ready, not so much the going out part, but maybe the getting ready will make it worth it. “Sounds absolutely brilliant!! But umm…what’s Ginville?”

Ginny and Neville start laughing, “It’s our dorm—we refer to it as Ginville. I know its stupid.” Ginny gets a surge of self-consciousness and starts to hang her head a little.

“No, no, I think it's perfect!! I love doing stuff like that. Make it your own I say!! I made a tree house one time and called it ‘The Bank’.”

Ginny and Neville look at each other, slightly confused. “Was it on the riverbank?” Neville feels fairly confident in his guess.

“No, I would keep my leaf collection up there. I started adding rocks, but it started to feel too heavy, so I had to make a leaves only rule,” Luna says it with the most brilliant smile, which makes Ginny beam.  
“You collected leaves as a child? That’s brilliant!! What else did you collect?” Ginny and Luna start to walk out of the classroom, enthusiastically talking about collectible items, and Luna continues telling her about all the things she collects. Neville stays behind to give them some alone time.

“Who gets excited about collecting leaves?” Neville says to himself mostly.

“The passions of others can be like a river, Longbottom; deep and wide and filled with a ton of shite you’d have never guessed was in there.” They head in the same direction as the ladies after Lupin locks up.


	4. Dress Up? Dress Down? Dress All Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Author's Notes:** Possible TW, Ginny continues the story about her and Harry's relationship with Cho and Cedric and Luna discussing a slightly traumatic crush reveal.

It’s late when Ginny gets back to the dorm. She has had an extremely busy day. She comes back to find Neville sitting at the table working on his chemistry homework.

“I can smell you from all the way over here!! Take a shower, Weasley!”

“You cannot smell me from over there!”

“Sure I can. Did you take a shower after practice?” Neville can’t really smell her but he does like to tease her.

“No…”

“Well then…”

She walks over and gives him a big bear hug, trying to wipe her stink all over him. She knows exactly what he’s doing—she can play too. “How do I smell now, eh?”

Neville starts making gagging noises, exaggerating the moment even more. They both laugh together, and she gives him a gentle kiss on the forehead after the moment has calmed down. “Here are the new flyers for the club.”

“Thanks, I’ll start handing them out tomorrow.”

She sits at the table and takes a drink from his mug. “Need company?”

“No, I’ll be fine. Got any plans tomorrow?”

“Other than the club and classes? No.”

“Oh yeah.”

“You forgot already?!”

“Well I had a busy day too, remember? And I really don’t want to go. Plus if Luna’s going, you wont need me anyway.” Neville is not looking forward to going out and it shows. Ginny knows she shouldn’t make him go.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t ask you to go anyway. But…can you at least help me do my makeup? You know how I am.” Neville just nods and looks back at his homework. Ginny gets up and heads for her second shower of the day.

****

Luna shows up to Ginville about two hours before they need to leave to meet the rest of the group. She’s a little nervous, but she does love getting ready every morning and she can’t wait to see the difference between getting ready for a normal day and getting  
ready for the club.

She knocks on the dorm room door and waits; Ginny answers the door in a robe. “WOW, you’re early!”

“I’m sorry. Should I…?” Luna turns around and points behind her, feeling like she’s just intruded, but Ginny just grabs her by the wrist and pulls her inside.

“NO, no don’t be silly. You’re always welcome here. If you don’t mind.” Ginny’s robe falls open, and she is just wearing her knickers underneath. Luna looks away as Ginny closes her robe. 

“OOH!! Getting the full show already? Be careful Luna, she’ll charge you an arm and a leg!!” Neville jokes from the couch. 

Ginny grabs a throw pillow on her way to her room and chucks it straight at Neville’s face. He just laughs it off and throws the pillow aside. Luna loves witnessing their interactions. It really feels like they are purely themselves around each other. She’s always wanted someone she can be that comfortable around, to be able to tease and fight and be honest, and trust that no matter what is said or done, they would stay by her side through thick and thin. That’s the impression she gets from Ginny and Neville, that no matter what, they would drop everything for the other. How desperately she’d yearned for something like that.

Ginny brings Luna into her room and shuts the door. “Do you mind?” Ginny gestures to her robe, silently asking if she can get undressed in front of her. 

“No, I’ve seen it all before.” Luna makes an elaborate hand gesture, waving a hand in front of her chest, as if to say, ‘I’ve got the same bits and pieces as you.’

Ginny starts to undress and pulls on a tiny red skirt that shows off her athletic body. She’s very fit and proud of the work she’s put into her body.

“Wow, you’re really fit!! I don’t know if I should undress in front of you.” Luna is joking, a little. She’s a little thicker than Ginny, and even though she likes her body, she’s nowhere near as fit as her friend.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with.” Ginny, just trying to be supportive, pulls a yellow lace crop top over her head.

“Are you not going to wear a bra?” Luna asks, glancing back and forth between Ginny’s smaller chest and her own exceptionally large breasts, pondering how anyone can go out in public without a bra.

“I rarely wear a bra…not much to hold up, ya know?” Ginny pushes up what little boob she has and laughs. Luna kindly laughs along with her. “You must hate it. I remember wearing training bras and I hated it! The moment I realized I’m not getting any bigger than this, I cut ‘em out of my wardrobe.”

“Oh I do hate it.” Luna starts pushing her extremely large breasts together and looking down at the cleavage she’s creating. “There is nothing like getting back to mine and taking my bra off, first thing. It’s like a fresh sea breeze on a hot summer’s day.”

Ginny starts to laugh again. “Well, I’ve never heard such poetry about a bra.”

“Trust me, I could write a whole sonnet on that one feeling.” Luna then starts to take out the clothes she brought with her to change into. “I wasn’t really sure what to wear to a club, so I brought some different items.”

“Sure!!” Ginny jumps onto the bed where Luna is sitting, and the clothes that Luna has dumped out of her bag bounce along with her. “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

“Well, it's nothing like what you’ve got on.” Luna is starting to feel a little embarrassed about her style. She usually doesn’t compare herself to other people, especially friends, but the two girls’ styles differ extremely and she realizes that she’s never been close to someone as vibrant as Ginny. She sits back a little to take in the scene and studies Ginny’s reactions.

Ginny pulls out a plain t-shirt and some denim overalls. “Okay…” She looks underneath a bright red jumper with doilies hanging off of it and sees a bright blue dress. “OOOHHH!! This one’s good!” The bright blue dress isn’t what one would call ‘sexy’ but it definitely brings out Luna’s bright blue eyes. Luna slips it on after timidly taking her own clothes off, and, although it has long, puffy sleeves and a stitching of bees flying over a purple flower near the waist, it makes Luna look gorgeous. 

Ginny is almost taken back at how much she wants to rip the dress from Luna but also wants her to wear it forever. Luna reaches her arms up straight in the air and does a little spin and the dress flies up and she looks like her own little flower, dancing in the middle of Ginny’s bedroom. She loves the dress on Luna, but it isn’t exactly a clubbing outfit.

“Luna, not that you don’t look stunning but…” Ginny stops herself and starts to think about her previous interactions with the other girl. She’s very shy, yet confident in herself. She loves to be her own person, but also seems to crave support and friendship.  
“You know what! Stay in that. I’m going to change!!!” Ginny starts to go through her closet and finds a dress she had bought to attend her Uncle Fabian’s wedding. It was a bright red dress she’d bought while visiting her Uncle in Spain after he’d moved there with his fiancée. It didn’t look anything like Luna’s chaste dress, but it was still different enough to feel like they matched more than they didn’t.

“Why are you changing?” Luna asks as Ginny starts stripping her club clothes off.

“I want to match you,” Ginny replies with a smile. Luna just shrugs her shoulders, not really understanding how a red dress matches a blue one, and waits as Ginny finishes dressing. “Did you bring any makeup?”

“Only some basic stuff—eyeliner, mascara, and some powder.” Luna does enjoy wearing make-up most of the time, it feels like a unique expression of her own self.

“Do you think you could help me a little? I don’t use makeup often and I’m crap at putting it on myself.”

“Sure. Come here. I think I have a really pretty yellow eye shadow in here actually…” Luna starts digging in her purse. “AHA!” She sits Ginny down on the bed and sits very close to put on the eyeliner, almost straddling the red head. Ginny can’t help but stare at Luna’s lips. They’re so full and a beautiful red color that makes Ginny want to reach out with her teeth and claim them. “Careful, don’t move or I might poke your eye out.”

> Image Description: A drawing of Luna and Ginny. They are sat on Ginny's bed, which has a number of pillows on, including a penguin shaped one. Luna is wearing a long sleeved blue dress and is carefully applying make-up to Ginny's face. Ginny is facing Luna with her eyes shut in a tight fitting red dress. In the background a Lord of the Rings poster and a Holyhead Harpies poster can be seen. Art by everyoneinspaceisgay. End description.

“Sorry.” Ginny starts to giggle and Luna has to pause, her eyes widening, giving her a look of sarcastic exasperation. “Okay, okay…I’m good.” Ginny shrugs off the laughter and takes a deep breath. “Go,” she says with a smile, looking deeply into the ocean of blue that is Luna’s eyes.

****

Ginny and Luna arrive at the club a little late. They had to redo Ginny’s makeup three times because she wouldn’t stop getting distracted by Luna’s lips—not that Luna noticed—and it took forever to curl Luna’s thick blonde hair. Ginny had just thrown her hair up in a messy bun, which made her look like a feisty princess. They catch Harry’s eye near the bar and head straight for him.

“Hey ladies!!” Ron exclaims as the two walk up. He is standing next to a beautiful girl with long dreads and a very short dark red silk dress that Ron can’t stop touching. “This is my girlfriend, Hermione,” Ron says to Luna specifically and then turns to his baby sister. “You look…different,” Ron says, earning him a slap on the chest from his girlfriend.

“Don’t be rude!” Hermione yells.

“I can be rude—she’s my sister!!”

“Why don’t we go get some drinks for you two,” Harry says, trying to get away from his two best friends.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Ginny teases Harry, as she nudges him in the shoulder.

“You’re insufferable, you know that!!” Harry teases back.

“Not here yet, eh?” Ginny knows Harry too well.

“Well you both look gorgeous. Not exactly club attire but I like it.” Harry tries to change the subject, and Luna accepts it.

“Well thank you Harry. That’s very kind of you. Everyone does seem to be wearing a lot of nothing,” Luna comments.

“Yeah clubs are always very…sexy. You know?”

Luna’s eyes go wide and she shakes her head as a smile creeps onto her lips. “I’m not really the ‘sexy’ kind.”

Harry opens his mouth, no doubt to tell her how sexy she is, he can be such a tit sometimes—so Ginny speaks quickly. “It’s not for everyone. I think just being yourself is sexy!!” Harry looks at Ginny with one side of his lips quirked and an eyebrow raised. She just mouths, ‘shush you’ to Harry and he complies. “It looks like there’s some tables upstairs. We can just go sit if you’d like. Enjoy the music.”

“We can dance if you want,” Luna says as she takes a drink of the whiskey sour in her hands. Ginny downs the apple martini she ordered and grabs Luna’s hand, dragging her to the dance floor. They start dancing to ‘Die Young’ and Ginny and Luna are mostly just bouncing up and down because Luna still has her drink in hand, but Ginny starts grinding her backside up against Luna’s front, and Luna doesn’t stop her. This may have been Ginny’s best idea ever.

After dancing to a couple songs and Luna losing her now empty glass, they exit the dance floor to get some water and a couple more drinks. Ron and Hermione are dancing, but they can’t find Harry. Ginny looks around for some of her other friends, but the club is extremely packed, even for a Thursday. The two girls get their drinks and stand off to the side, near the wall. 

“We can still go upstairs if you’d like,” Ginny assures Luna, but she shakes her off.

“I really am enjoying dancing!! This is fun!! I can’t believe I never did this before!!”

Ginny can’t believe how excited Luna is. She goes clubbing because she can usually score easiest here, but Luna is just enjoying the music and dancing to her heart’s desire. She is so pure, Ginny thinks, amazed at her new friends’ way of living life. 

“I think I can learn so much from you.” Ginny is a little shocked she let that slip out, but she still looks confident, hiding her embarrassment easily in the darkness of the club. Luna just smiles at her, gulps down her whisky sour, and this time she drags Ginny back to the dance floor. They dance together to ‘Born This Way.’ Most of the club sings along while they dance, with their hands in the air like worship. As they dance, Ginny accidentally elbows someone in the back. When she goes to apologize, she realizes it's Hermione, who then drags Ron to join the girls’. Two other boys that were dancing with Ron and Hermione join in. Ginny tries to tell Luna that those are her friends, Seamus and Dean, another ex-boyfriend of hers.

“Wow!! You’ve got a whole collection, don’t you?!” Luna teases Ginny, who is a little surprised at first. This is the first time Luna has been bold enough to tease her jokingly.

“Oh, you’ve got jokes, I see?!” Luna just nods her head strongly in reply and throws her hands in the air and closes her eyes, losing herself in the song, and Ginny follows her lead.

The group continues to dance together for a few more songs. It starts to get a little too crowded, so they go to sit upstairs. After they’ve got another round, they find a table and sit down. They’re both shining in the light from the room, and Ginny can’t stop smiling. 

“I don’t think I’ve had this much fun at a club in a long time.”

“Really?! Oh it’s wonderful. I wish I would’ve discovered it sooner.”

“Well, I always feel like I fall into the same routine here. When we go out, it's always the same, but you…well you’ve just made it so much better,” she says, her smile getting a little more shy than gleeful.

“I’m glad I could give your club life some new…life…” Luna’s eyes look back and forth, left to right, trying to figure out what she just said. “Wow, I may be a bit more drunk than I thought.”

“Yeah, it usually hits you when you sit down. Are you alright?” Ginny places a hand on Luna’s shoulder to keep her from tilting all the way forward.

“Isn’t that Harry?” Luna points to a table in the corner of the upstairs room, snogging some blonde headed boy like they should get a room. Ginny turns to look and busts up laughing. 

“I knew they’d end up snogging each other!! They’re always fighting with each other, calling each other names, but…” Ginny wiggles her eyebrows up and down, “you know how it is!!”  
Luna’s smile slightly disappears.

“Oh! I’m sorry, maybe not then.” Ginny, realizing her mistake, facepalms and lets out a deep sigh. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Most people aren’t even that considerate. Don’t worry. I might not know, but I see it enough. I think I know what it is you’re implying.”

“How are you so kind and understanding? How do you do that?”

“I like to think I get it from my mother. She was always one to help others and try to understand everyone’s predicament before judging them, which she rarely did. She really was a great human being. I’m very proud to be her daughter. She was wonderful…”

“You are a wonderful human being,” Ginny says kindly, rubbing Luna’s back.

“Can I ask what happened? Between you and Harry?” Luna asks softly and motions toward the boy in the corner booth.

“Sure. It’s not much. I mean we were together for almost two years.” Luna’s eyes grow at the thought of her and Harry together, a couple. They don’t seem to have that type of dynamic. “I told you about our experimenting, right?” Luna nods. “Well, do you remember Cho, from the meeting?” Luna nods again, eyes getting bigger as she becomes enthralled in the story already. “Well, she was one of the first girls we brought in, and she had been the best so far. She was really exciting. Harry and I really liked her, so we made it sort of a permanent thing. It was never official or anything, we just had regular sex with her and it was great.”

“But…” Luna knows something bad is about to come.

“Oh yes, shite was about to hit the fan! She went and got herself a boyfriend.”

“And he didn’t like what she did with you and Harry?”

“Actually, he was interested. She told him about it, and this was after she had ended things with us, which we were fine with, but she told him about it and he wanted to give it a go. Now…mind you, he was straight, and maybe he was bi-curious, I don’t know, but Harry had always thought he was very cute so he got really excited about it when she brought it up to us. Harry agreed before I could even think about it, and then Cho got excited, so I just went along with it.”

“And Harry and this other boy fell in love and they left you and Cho?”

Ginny started laughing, “No, no nothing like that. We got together one night and Cedric, that’s her boyfriend, was really into Cho and I, but didn’t pay any attention whatsoever to Harry. I started trying to pull Cho aside with me so they could have some time together, but Cedric just wanted to be with me and Cho...mostly Cho really. I don’t think he liked me very much either, to be honest. Harry was really upset by the whole thing and I…well, I don’t really do well with very emotional people. After the whole thing with Cedric, Harry just got really upset and he was always questioning himself and my love and…he was just a mess and I couldn’t deal with it at the time so I broke it off.”

“Well you two seem to have moved on.”

“Yeah, he definitely has.” Ginny teasingly points back over to Harry and Draco in the corner with a smile on her face. “We’ve both grown a lot and learned a lot since then, and I think we realized that we’re better off as friends. What about you?”

“I think you and Harry make great friends,” Luna responds, receiving a giggle and a head shake from Ginny.

“No I meant, have you ever dated anyone?” 

“Oh…umm I tried a few years back. I went on a few dates with some boys from school but I could never feel a connection with anyone. After each date they all had the same response: ‘I had a really great time with you. I really liked you.’ I never had those feelings though. I’d just think, ‘but we only spent two hours together. How could you really like me? You don’t even know me.’ So then I just decided maybe I’m not meant to fall in love, and I was fine with that until I fell for my friend.”

“Yes, you told me a little about that.” Ginny noticed a change in Luna’s stature when she talked about her old friend. “What happened, if you don’t mind?”

“It isn’t much. I realized I had feelings for her and that I was attracted to her and I told her, and she wasn’t interested.”

“Why did you stop being friends then?”

“Well…she wasn’t so nice about the ‘telling me she wasn’t interested’ part of our relationship…She was actually really mean. I had never seen that side of her. She told me that I was disgusting and that she never wanted to breathe the same air as me.“ Ginny is shocked, not only at how upset Luna seems to be getting—she could see it in her eyes—but also at the ease with which she had said it. “Well that story sure did sober me up!”

“Sorry,” Ginny says with a hug. “I’m so sorry Luna. Want another?” she asks, raising Luna’s empty glass up. Luna gets a wicked grin on her face.


	5. Headaches and Heartaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the texting conversations: Ginny is in bold and Luna is in Italics

The next morning the sun beats onto Ginny’s face like a blow to her gut. She jumps up to grab a pillow to cover her face but there are no pillows on her bed. After she finally opens her eyes, searching for something to protect her awful headache from the mean old sun, she realizes this isn’t her bed—it’s Neville’s. ‘Uh-Oh,’ she thinks. ‘I must’ve been more drunk than I thought last night.’ She looks around the room. She’s in her PJ set, which Neville probably put her in; she never finds actual matches when she dresses for bed, especially if she is drunk. She slinks into the living room where Neville is sat in his yellow chair by the window.

“There she is!! It’s good to see you’re still alive!!!”

“Please…don’t yell. Tell me you made coffee,” Ginny says with a quiet husk.

“I did. It’s in the pot, with your mug next to it and some ibuprofen.”

“You, Mister Longbottom, are an angel.”

Ginny fumbles about in the kitchen for a minute and then emerges to sit on the couch trying to ignore Neville’s gaudy gaze. She can feel it burning on her, just like the sun. Neville sure does know how to make you feel his attention when he wants to. She takes another sip from her mug, gripping it tightly with both hands, keeping one finger at attention so that Neville gets the message to leave her alone. He doesn’t.

“Can I help you?” she spits out, sounding a little more rude than she would’ve liked.

“I have never seen you that drunk before…and Luna, she was…”

“LUNA!!” Ginny yells and scoffs a little at how loud she is. If she could flip herself off she would. After rubbing her temples a little she continues, “What happened? Is she okay?”

“I’m fine.” Luna’s tiny voice comes from the hall. She stands there in Neville’s sweatpants and the ‘Samwise Gamgee is the Real Hero’ shirt he had made. “You got a little too drunk at the club and ended up knocking some guy out because he touched my arse, which I am forever grateful to you for. We did get kicked out, however, and I couldn’t find Harry or Ron. I had a bit of trouble getting you back here, but we made it.”

“Ohhhhhh…I’m so sorry Luna. I don’t remember anything after the conversation about the girl you liked, and Harry and then…poof.” Ginny makes an explosive hand gesture and drinks some more coffee. Luna comes and sits down next to her. 

“It’s alright. Thank you for your bed. It was very comfortable—” Luna’s voice suddenly goes up two octaves “—especially the fluffy penguin pillow!” Ginny flinches at the rise in Luna’s tone. “Sorry.”

“Did I drink that much more than you?”

“Yes, you and someone called Pansy, I think, had a drink off, where you had to out drink each other. It was very intense and Harry kept buying you guys shots until she passed out. Very impressive, I say.” Luna has a huge smile on her face. “You are also quite confident, when embarrassing yourself. Nev and I had a great laugh at you last night.”

Ginny’s mind flies to the worst of the worst possibilities. Did she tell Luna about her feelings toward her? Did she tell her how pretty she was, or how sexy? What could she have said? Her face must be showing exactly how she’s feeling, because Neville starts laughing and Luna puts her arm around Ginny’s shoulders.

Luna really does enjoy teasing Ginny, and she is learning from Neville quickly. Ginny is always so confident in herself, a different confidence than Luna herself has. To Luna, Ginny seems like every move she makes is the right one, like she can’t make a mistake. Luna’s confidence really just falls under the veil of ‘I don’t care what anyone else thinks.’ Just the right words though, and she feels like Ginny crumbles into a shy little girl who is just as scared of the world as Luna, and Luna loves it.

“Don’t worry, it was all rubbish mostly. Talking a bit of shite about Cho and some other footballer I think…you just kept saying she was phlegmy…”

“That was her sister in law, Fleur.”

“Right!” Luna points at Neville for reminding her of the poem Ginny had created in her drunken state. “What was the song? ‘Fleur is a flop, a phlegmy sloppy frump’…I think it was. You were singing it while we got you dressed for bed.” Luna laughs at the memory and gives Ginny a bit of a hug, with her arm still wrapped around her. The hug is so warm that Ginny just melts into Luna.

“Well, I’m sorry,” she says as she nuzzles into Luna a little bit more. “I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“I thought it was quite amusing, actually.”

“So did I,” Neville adds. Luna grabs Ginny’s mug out of her hands and stands up to get her more coffee. While Luna goes to the kitchen, Ginny is about to say something to Neville, but he starts first, whispering, “You didn’t say anything too bad. You did keep saying she was pretty but you said it to me as well, so I don’t think she thought much of it.”

Ginny lets out a deep sigh and Luna returns with a mug full of coffee.

****

Ginny is taking the day to just relax; Neville also made her some of his hangover cure tea (which he had concocted back when they were just eighteen). Neville really has a knack for plants and putting herbs together for just the right purpose. Ginny is still feeling anxious about being so drunk around Luna, but nothing too bad seemed to come of it, and Luna seemed to think it was enjoyable. Maybe this is a good thing. Seeing her in Neville’s clothes was a bit of a shock. Ginny did not like that whatsoever, but   
Luna is a little thicker than Ginny, maybe her pajamas did not fit. But then she could’ve just…it may be best not to finish that thought.

Good enough because her thoughts are interrupted by a buzzing in her pocket. It’s Luna.

**(12:57pm)** _Hey just wanted to check in. You seemed a little weird when I left so just thought I’d check on you. -Luna_

**(12:59pm) Yeah. Doing fine. Nev has a good hangover cure, not that you’d need it. 😉**

**(1:01pm) I have your number saved btw. No need to sign. 😊**

**(1:13pm) If you’re finished with your paper, maybe you can come over tonight. Movie? Popcorn?**

**(1:47pm)** _Sounds great!! I’ll bring some snacks and we’ll have a night in at Ginville!!_

Ginny feels like she can finally breathe again. She texted Luna back so fast that she thought she may have said something wrong when Luna hadn’t responded. But now they’ll have a night in. That’ll be great! Should she spend the night? Maybe she should ask…maybe it’s too soon…She debates and keeps typing different things into her phone and erasing them.

**(1:59pm) Brilliant!! SYS!**

“Luna’s coming over tonight for a movie!!” she yells to let Neville know.

“I’m going to be out tonight anyway!!” he yells back. “Got the ‘Meticulously Mad’ art exhibit with Lee, Fred, and George. Remember?”

“Great!! Are you staying at mum’s then?”

“Probably,” he says as he walks into the room. “But I haven’t cemented my plans yet…maybe I will come back here.”

“Sod off!! Stay with mum…she’ll have biscuits in the morning, fresh.”

“Well!!!” He throws his hands up in the air. “You’ve convinced me!!” He smiles at her and winks as she smiles with gratitude back at him.

****

Ginny is trying to get everything ready; she doesn’t feel the need to clean up much; Luna was just here earlier in the morning. She picks up some clothes off the floor and goes out to buy some fresh jasmine to place around her room to give it a nice scent.

She looks at the work she has already put into the bed; she already had curtains around it, but she wants to add a little extra flair to match Luna’s energy. She brings in some of Neville’s plants to give it more of a garden feel. She makes things a little more comfortable and brings in another blanket, one of her favorites, some extra pillows and goes to get the pumpkin juice she bought from the Tesco’s around the corner—it’ll pair nicely with the vodka in her fridge. She realizes after putting everything into place that she hasn’t thought about which movie they should watch. RomCom? Horror? Maybe she should wait until Luna arrives, then they can decide together.

She hears a knock on the door. “Shit, the popcorn…!!” Ginny says to herself as she goes to open the door. Luna is standing there with a whole bag of snacks, she lifts it up to Ginny’s eye level and she has that entrancing smile and a wicked look in her eyes, like she knows what’s on Ginny’s mind—almost. Maybe Ginny is just paranoid; it’s beautiful nonetheless. She steps aside to let Luna inside.

“So…I didn’t know if you’d had anything specific in mind, but I brought some of my favorites to watch. You know, just in case.” Luna starts ruffling through her bag.

“Alright, I’ll put the popcorn on fast. Just give me a minute.”

Ginny goes to put the popcorn on the oven and pulls some biscuits out as well, but her assortment of snacks feels inadequate.

“I’ve brought three movies,” she hears Luna yell from the living room. “Where is your telly?”

“We haven’t got one!!” They’re still yelling back and forth between the living room and the kitchen and Ginny wants to see the look on her face when she shows Luna what she’s done to her room. She rushes out to the living room. Stopping right before running straight into the couch, she surprises Luna, who looks up at her, probably wondering what the rush is. Ginny’s voice is rushed and a little too high-pitched for anyone’s good. “Why don’t you sit, and I’ll be right out?” Damn these hormones! “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Luna just nods, probably not noticing the rise in her tone and rushed breathing, or at least doesn’t know what the change is about. That’s the one thing Ginny is grateful for, anytime she lets her hormones take hold of her, it goes right over Luna’s head. Sometimes she hates that her sexual innuendos or flirty attitude are lost on the other girl, but right now she couldn’t be more thankful. Once the popcorn is done, she brings it out in one large bowl with her chocolate biscuits in her other hand. She mentally marks off the list of things they’ll need so they won't have to get up. Cups and pumpkin juice in the room—check. Blankets and pillows—check. Snacks—big check! She laughs to herself and Luna takes a look over her shoulder to see what Ginny is laughing at. Ginny almost drops the bowl in her hand.

“Come on, I can’t wait to show you.” She nods her head towards her room and starts to walk in that direction. Luna gets up to follow.

“You couldn’t have done anything too grand. I was just here eight hours ago.”

Ginny feigns a look of shock and horror, “You underestimate me Luna Lovegood…tsk tsk tsk. I’m disappointed; I thought you knew me better.” She tilts her head down in Luna’s direction, which draws a giggle out of Luna that Ginny has never witnessed. It is the most refreshing laugh she’s ever heard. She opens the door slowly, stepping backwards inside the room so that she can see Luna’s reaction.

Luna steps inside slowly, taking in how different the room looks from this morning. The lighting overhead is off and there are more curtains of lace over the canopy. Strung along the edges and woven into some of the curtains are soft twinkly lights. They aren’t too bright, but they mimic the stars and a fresh scent of jasmine tickles her senses. She looks at Ginny, who seems to be anticipating something.

“I cant…did you…” Luna tries to put together a sentence, but it's too perfect for words. She can’t decide where to look, but it feels like home. The scent in the air is the most prevalent to her—jasmine always reminds her of her mother. The hanging lights wink down at them, making her feel safe and comfortable. Did Ginny just decide to redecorate, or was this all for her?

“You said something at the club about the lights and how it reminded you of the stars and how you and your mum used to lay in the garden at night and sing songs, and the smell of jasmine…do…do you like it?” Ginny expects Luna to look happy, ecstatic, overjoyed, anything but the look she has on her face. Luna looks like she just found out someone has been lying to her her whole life about something important.

“You…you remember me saying that?” Luna sounds like she is having trouble getting out any words.

“Of course.” Ginny puts down the bowl and biscuits and starts to move closer to Luna, starting to feel like she’s made a mistake.

“I’m…I mean I didn’t mean to…” Luna bursts into tears the moment Ginny gets to her and she falls into Ginny’s arms. Ginny swiftly wraps her arms around Luna, trying to comfort her, trying to fix whatever she has seemingly broken. “I’m so sorry, I thought it would make you happy.”

“It does!” Luna backs away slightly, just enough to look Ginny in the eye. “Oh!! It does, Ginny!! I never thought anyone could be so…well, thoughtful. This is…it’s incredible. I can't believe you went to all this trouble…for me.”

“It wasn’t trouble. I thought it would make you happy, so it made me happy to do it. You’re my friend Luna. I’d do anything to make sure you were happy.”  
Luna wipes some of the tears from her cheek, trying to move on from her explosion of emotions. “I think maybe we should get to watching the movie.” Luna’s acting a bit strange. She grabs the movies from her bag and goes to put the snacks on the bed. She turns around, holding three movies up, and before she says anything Ginny has already decided.

“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!!! I love this movie!!!!!”

“Oh I’m so glad. It's my favorite feel good movie!!”

“Perfect, do you want the inside or the outside?” Ginny’s bed is in the corner of her room, so one side is against the wall.

“Doesn’t matter to me at all.” Luna climbs into the bed and grabs Ginny’s favorite blanket and wraps herself in it, while Ginny grabs her laptop and puts the movie in. Luna grabs some popcorn and shoves it into her mouth, while Ginny climbs next to her, wrapping herself in another large red blanket with a horse wearing a crown on it. They snuggle into the pillows surrounding each of them and the movie starts.

They lay there, laughing, and it seems with each laugh they grow closer together, picking at popcorn and snacks, and by the time Lawrence Talbot has found Chick and Wilbur in their hotel room about thirty minutes in, they’re cuddled up next to each other. Luna has her left arm around Ginny’s shoulders and a handful of popcorn, and Ginny is resting her head on Luna’s shoulder; it fits perfectly, like the last missing piece to a puzzle.

After the movie is over, Ginny jumps up, calling, “MY TURN!” and grabs one of her favorites, ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ to watch. She slips it into her laptop and Luna starts to tear into the biscuits. “Have you seen this?”

“No,” Luna replies, “I mostly just watch older movies, and musicals.”

“Oh, well it’s one of my favorites. You’ll love it!! Something to drink?” Ginny says with a wink as she sways the vodka and pumpkin juice bottles.

“Are ya sure? You got a little handsy last night,” Luna says in a teasing manner, but Ginny starts to silently panic, hoping it doesn’t show on her face.

“Did I…? I didn’t try to do anything, did I?”

This seems to create the purest of giggles from Luna, and how Ginny adores it. “Don’t be silly!” Luna taps Ginny’s elbow with her hand. “You did get a little handsy with Harry, though he didn’t seem to mind.”

“Oh, fuck!! I guess I better text him and apologize.”

“Why? He didn’t seem to mind it. Do you two still…?” Luna raises her eyebrows and widens her eyes, implying something to Ginny.

“Oh NO!!! Well…not in a few months at least, but its not like that…its sex…you know, just sex. Nothing romantic or anything!”

“Well no, I don’t know…but I’m sure it's nice.” Luna looks a little embarrassed, so Ginny sits next to her on the bed, leaving the pumpkin juice and vodka on her dresser.

“Have you never…?”

“No…I know it’s weird. I’m almost twenty-two and I’ve never…”

“It’s not weird. Lots of people don’t have sex until they’re ready. And some people never are. That’s not weird, Luna, it's just not normal…sorry that made sense in my head.”

“No it makes sense to me. I know things can be different and still be okay.” She lowers her voice shyly, “That’s my whole life really.” Her tone starts to go back to normal, “But to never even kiss someone?”

“Wait…you’ve never even kissed someone before?”

“No…I’ve never wanted to. Or at least the people I’ve wanted to kiss didn’t want to kiss me.”

Ginny places her hand on Luna’s thigh, trying more to be comforting than anything else. “It’s alright. If it makes you uncomfortable, you shouldn’t feel pressured to do anything.” Luna doesn’t move her hand away but she does curl up a bit, hugging her knees and keeping her face down.

“But look how you reacted. You thought I meant sex, not kissing…how could anyone be that patient with me.”

“It just takes the right person, and you will find them one day Luna. Don’t worry about that. You may need time to find that connection, to form that bond, but people will not have trouble falling in love with you. Trust me.”

Luna looks up at Ginny, who has nothing but compassion in her eyes. “How did I get so lucky to find a friend like you?”

Ginny pulls her in for a hug. “Maybe we shouldn’t watch this movie.”

“Why? What’s it about?”

“Well it’s a bit of a murder mystery, comedy, drama all wrapped into one, where this guy, he’s a thief and he runs into an audition for some movie and gets the part and then gets flown to L.A. and then he ends up having to solve a murder…it’s complicated but hilarious.”

“Let’s give it a go. If you like it so much, it can’t be that bad.”

They curl up again on the bed, this time with both blankets on top of one another as to cover both girls. Luna slides her leg over Ginny’s, while Ginny lays her head on Luna’s very soft chest. Luna starts to run her fingers through Ginny’s hair as the movie begins. They laugh a lot and at one point Ginny has to sit up— her head had fallen into Luna’s lap and Luna is laughing so hard Ginny’s head keeps bobbing up and down. They end the movie still close and feeding each other different flavored crisps.

“I think I’ve found my new favorite movie!!” Luna exclaims when the credits begin to roll. “That was great!! Just what I needed!!”

Ginny beams at something she has finally done right. “I’m so glad you liked it!! We should make this a regular thing. I’ll pick one and you pick one and we’ll just sit and watch movies and eat crisps all night!!”

“Brilliant!!” She jumps toward Ginny, pulling her into a hug. “This has truly been one of the best nights I’ve had in my life. But I should probably go. You don’t want me sleeping here two nights in a row.” She smiles and starts to pack up her things. If only she knew how much Ginny would not mind that at all.


	6. A Lesson in Patience

Ginny wakes up with the lights still twinkling above her, even with the sun beaming in, she still feels the jolt from last night. She looks at the gooseflesh running down her arms and thinks about how great she and Luna are together. Ginny hasn’t felt this comfortable around anyone since she and Harry started dating, and she starts to think about the possibility that Luna may never feel the same way. She curls up into the pillow that still smells like Luna’s strawberry scented hair and takes in a deep breath of it.  
It calms her down a little and she pulls the blankets over her head and falls back asleep.

Ginny wakes up again, presumably a few hours later, and looks at the clock. It's Saturday, which means she’s got to go to work at her mum’s fish and chips shop soon. She drags herself out of bed, but something feels off, and then she remembers that Neville didn’t sleep here last night, which means no one has made tea. She slumps into the kitchen and puts the kettle on.

She looks at her phone, nothing new. Harry seems to have updated the LGBTQ+ page on the society page online to include pictures of the society day, and she sees a picture of her and Neville talking with Luna right before their balloon fight. It’s hard to imagine that was only two weeks ago when she feels like she’s known Luna forever. She looks through the news on her phone and her tea is finally ready, so she starts to relax and go through her friends’ recent pictures from a crazy Friday night out. It looks like everyone was having fun and Katie had even tagged her in one picture saying how she wished Ginny would have joined them. She quirks her lips, thinking of a response when Neville texts her.

**(9:39am)** u up? Omw

She replied with a gif of Chow Yun Fat giving a thumbs up.

Neville gets home about ten minutes later and drops his bag near the door to head straight for his Saturday morning plants.

“I’ve already watered them Nev. Don’t worry,” Ginny says as she gets up to pour Neville some tea.

“Did you sing to Percy? He likes to be sung to in the mornings.”

“I did not, but he’s a prickly mess and I’d rather not sing to him,” she says with a smile, and Neville lets out a sighing chuckle.

“I meant the succulent not your brother.”

“Oh…right,” Ginny sarcastically responds right back and winks. She pushes a mug in front of his chair as he sits down at the table. “So how was your night?”

“It was a bit lackluster. The exhibit didn’t have anything too new. People are just into things for the shock value now, but when everything is ‘shocking’ nothing is really shocking, so it fell a little flat for me. Lee loved it though.”

“Very nice, very nice.” She takes a long sip from her mug.

Neville decides to mimic her and meets her eyes. They do this sometimes when Ginny doesn’t want to come out with things, when she wants to be prodded. But Neville hates the games that people play; he usually wins.

“Alright!! Fine! I had a wonderful time last night. Luna and I watched ‘Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein’ and I showed her ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang’ for the first time. She loved it by the way, and we laughed and talked and cuddled and there!”

“Very nice, yes…sounds very nice.” Neville has a wider grin on his face than anyone who’s had a lackluster night should have on their face in the morning. Ginny knows he’s making fun of her. She loves their banter sometimes but she’s just not feeling it this morning.

“I’m going to go wash up. I’ve got to go to mums soon.”

“I’m sorry Gin. I just...you haven’t been this caught up on anyone since Harry. And that was like, when you first started liking Harry, which was almost ten years ago. You usually just have these casual flings.”

“They’re not casual. And what about Dean? Or Michael?”

“You were never like this, though. You aren’t even going out with your friends like you usually do.”

Ginny just rolls her eyes and yells back as she goes to get in the shower, “Maybe I don’t have any friends anymore.”  
Neville knows this is more about him than about her other friends who seem to be missing her. He knows Ginny’s temper better than anyone, though. She’s very feisty, and he isn’t really in the mood for a fight, which he knows would come along with any conversation, so he decides to gulp down the rest of his tea and close himself in his room until she leaves.

****

Ginny arrives at her mum's shop thirty minutes early and she just throws on her normal apron with a sea of sunflowers stitched into it. She clocks in and gets to cleaning up after people who’ve just left crumbles from their chips and puddles of vinegar on the table. She feels like everything is going to piss her off today. She knows why; she’s trying to push down her feelings for Luna.

She’s never in a good mood when she starts lying to herself, but she feels that it would be best. Luna probably will never have feelings for her, so she needs to get over it as soon as she can, before there’s no turning back.

Ron is also working this morning. He comes out from the back and sees her wiping down a table by the door. “Oi!! What are you doing here so early?”

“I had a bad morning and I needed to clear my head.” Ron knows his sister very well. She’s only a year younger than him and he was always closest to her growing up. He can see she is not to be trifled with today, so he just returns to the back room.

A group of girls walks in and sits down at one of the larger tables in the middle of the shop. They’re being very loud, and Ginny has to restrain herself from yelling at them to shut up.

“Hey, aren’t you on the girls football team?” one of the girls asks, a little too snidely for Ginny’s taste.

“Yes,” she replies tightly.

“You guys lost bad last year didn’t you?! How was that?” The other girls start giggling, and Ginny is not in the mood to put up with such insolence.

“It was better than having to cake my face in all that makeup you have on every morning!!”

“Excuse me?!?!” The girl stands up, and Ron, who Ginny hasn’t realized is standing behind her, grabs Ginny’s arm and yanks her into the back.

“If you’re in such a bad mood as to stir up the customers then you can sit back here and catalogue cups!” Ron scolds her, as he rarely does, so Ginny just grabs the pen and paper from him and starts counting. She hears Ron go out and apologize to the girls and give them all free drinks. ‘What a tosser,’ she thinks.

When Ron comes back from the front, he leans against the wall nearest her and folds his arms. “Alright, what happened?”

“Nothing.”

“Ginevra…” He gives her what they have come to call ‘mum eyes,’ and she breaks immediately. She tells him everything—about Luna and her feelings, and Luna being demi and the times they’ve spent together in the past two weeks, all her doubts and insecurities.

She is finally starting to feel some relief. “It sounds like you might need to pine for a while. I mean look what happened with you and Harry, and me and Hermione. It happens Gin, you just have to be patient.”

“Yeah!! That’s what everyone seems to be telling me, but that’s not me!! I’m not a patient person!!”

“Well I see that you’ve got two options; you wait patiently and see what happens on her end, or you get some space, go snog someone else a few times, and just be friends with her.”

“I don’t like either of those options, Ron!”

“Sometimes your only options always suck, but you’ll get through it. This is not the end; it’s the beginning. She seems to need patience, and if you aren’t willing to give it to her then it sounds to me she isn’t the one for you anyway.”

Ron’s words hit her like an ice bath. She knows he’s right; if she can’t be patient, she and Luna would not make a good pair. This whole predicament scares her, and she’s never scared; growing up with six brothers will do that. Then suddenly her thoughts are interrupted by her father's voice.

“Now when did my son become so wise?” Arthur says, standing at the back door.

Ron starts to get red immediately and mumbles something about how he’s older than everyone cares to remember. Arthur walks in animatedly, straight to Ron, and pulls something out of his pocket.

“Look what I’ve got! It's called a K-2 meter. It’s supposed to detect temperature differences and electromagnetic field fluctuations. It’ll definitely help us with the hunt next week.”

“You guys are still doing that?” Ginny rolls her eyes. She feels like maybe she’s rolled them a few too many times today.

“The art of ghost hunting is a particular and effervescent skill my dear,” Arthur says with full confidence.

“Effervescent?” Ron and Ginny say at the same time. They both laugh toward each other, shaking their heads at their father, who’s always up to make people laugh.

“I’m not sure that’s the word you were looking for,” Ginny says as she walks toward her father and gives him a big, long hug.

“What? Does it not mean handsome?” he replies to his daughter with a wide smile on his face. She just shakes her head and grips him tighter. “Intelligent? Wondrous?”

She finally pulls away and grabs his face. “I love you!!” She gives him a big kiss on both cheeks and he asks her what she’s so upset by this lovely morning. “It’s a girl. I like her but she, well she doesn’t like people like that until she forms a sort of bond with them. I’m just being impatient…and I know I need to get over her, stop my feelings somehow.”

“Stop? Why?”

“You think it's good to be impatient?”

“Well no, but there’s a difference between being impatient and not wanting to wait for something.”

“I think that’s the literal definition of impatience, Da.”

“No, no…patience has nothing to do with waiting. It's about controlling your temper. You see, you can wait and wait and want it to happen all you want, but it's about how you deal with your wanting that counts. If you are kind and calm and keep your composure, you are being patient.”

“Well I do keep it together around her…mostly. But I am never rude about anything, just a little flustered.”

“Then I think you’re fine. You may need to just tell her how you feel. Tell her so that the pressure is off.”

“I don’t want to scare her away though.”

“Well, if you didn’t already know this, you are quite frightening at times. Just like your mother, you are. Cute as pie until you feel the need to stand up for something and then you're as fierce as a lion. I think that if you haven’t frightened her off yet, you’ll be just fine.”

Ginny thinks on her father’s and brothers’ words and work gets a little easier throughout the day. She starts feeling better about her friendship with Luna, and she knows she needs to apologize to Neville when she gets home. They have spats like this every once in a while, so she isn’t too worried about it.

****

The weekend flies by. Ginny feels it is very productive, though. She worked a few extra hours, still got her daily three miles in, which she’s been slumping with a little bit, and had a very long heart to heart with Neville about love and life and reminiscing about the simplicities of youth. Everything seems to be simple in hindsight, however. Maybe this will too.

She goes to classes all day and stops by Lupin's office to ask about the next social outreach event that Cho was planning. When she gets to his office, however, it is locked. She checks her phone for the time. These are his normal office hours, which means he probably had another seizure. She texts Harry to ask if everything is okay.

Harry doesn’t respond in the ten minutes Ginny spends waiting outside of the office door, but then she sees Sirius walking towards her.

“Coach! Is Remus alright? I thought he’d had another seizure.”

“He did have another. It wasn’t so bad this time, but he hasn’t really recovered from the last one, so I’m just picking some of his things up so he can work from home for a few days.”

“Alright, do you know if we’re doing anything for the next outreach event? I was hoping to try and get all the information Cho has without actually speaking to her.”

“Oh, you stop that!!” Sirius knows all about Harry, Ginny, and Cho’s mishap. He does like to indulge the students in their drama sometimes, but he knows what Remus would do in the situation.

“Well!! You know what she did!!” Ginny probably shouldn’t have such strong feelings toward Cho, but she really did love Harry, and when someone hurts the people that Ginny loves, it’s unforgivable in her book.

“Maybe you could be a bit nicer to her though. She didn’t mean any harm, and Harry is over it now.” Ginny just rolls her eyes at the remark. She feels how she feels, and no amount of logic and good advice is going to change that. “I’ve cancelled practice for the next two days, if you haven’t seen it already.” He changed the subject briskly. Even the ‘infamous’ Sirius Black doesn’t want to be on the other end of Ginny’s stubborn temper.

“I hadn’t. Are you sure it wasn’t that bad? He usually recovers fairly quickly?” Ginny is always worried when Remus has a seizure. They were always very debilitating, and he would get the strangest injuries. She may have also wanted to talk to him about the Luna situation, but Sirius may just have to do.

“He’ll be fine. He’s just very sore, and he's got a hefty looking bruise on his chin. We’ve seen worse. Trust me.” Sirius is fidgeting a bit, looking for all the papers and such that Remus told him to bring home from his office.

“Alright, if you say. Maybe I’ll get some hours in at the shop then, if practice is cancelled.”

Sirius just nods. He just wants to get home, not that he minds talking to Ginny. He’s watched her grow up and he does enjoy seeing the woman she’s become. “Sorry little Weaslette, but I need to head home or my husband is going to kill me,” he says with a smile.

“Oh…alright…umm,” Ginny struggles to find the words to keep his attention.

Sirius notices her attempt to keep the conversation going. “Was there something else?” Sirius asks begrudgingly.

“Well I’ve just…I really wanted to talk with Remus—Professor Lupin about it. But it’s about a girl, and I just don't really know what I should do about it because I like her a lot but she might be demi so I don’t know if I should waste my time or not.”

“Well,” Sirius strokes his chin as if he’s contemplating something difficult, but he knows just what to say because he has been in a similar situation. “I’d say if you feel like your feelings are a waste of time, you have your answer right there.”

“It’s not…No, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t think it’s a waste of time. I love being around her, but I’m not sure if I should be pining for someone who may never have feelings for me.” She pauses for just a few seconds and then adds, “I’m scared Sirius.”

“I’ll tell you what, I pined and pined for three years before Remus finally came ‘round and it was the most miserable and lonely time in my life, and that’s saying something. But I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat, because in my opinion, three years of pining was worth the twenty years of love and devotion I’ve gotten.”

Ginny doesn’t say anything back. She just nods and looks down as if she’s realized her shoes have turned into a complicated physics problem.

“Was there anything else?” Sirius asks, trying to be supportive, but it’s not really his area of expertise.

“No. That was all. Thank you.”

Ginny decides to text Percy, who usually takes care of the scheduling at work, and ask him if they’ll need extra help tonight. He tells her no, but tomorrow would be more helpful.

****

The smell of fish is extremely strong today. Maybe a batch is going bad. Ginny has just thrown on her yellow and red checkered apron and thrown her hair back in a messy bun. They usually get busy around four, that seems to be when everyone gets out of their last class of the day. She walks around the shop, making sure everything is stocked for the rush of students that are about to descend upon the shop. Ron is in the back, cutting potatoes, and Percy is being his usual annoying self, rechecking everything Ginny has just checked. She wants to squirt the mustard she’d just filled onto his stupid face, but the first few students shuffle in and she goes behind the counter to take their orders.

After about an hour and a half of taking orders and cleaning tables, the rush finally starts to slow down. It feels like she’s been working for six hours already, but the sun hasn’t even fully gone down yet. Why does time decide to move so slowly at the worst possible moments?

Just then, Ginny starts to perk up because she sees Luna and Neville walk through the door…’When did they start hanging out?’ she thinks.

“Hello, hello!! Welcome dear friends!!” Ginny walks briskly to her friends. She gives Neville a hug and turns to Luna, and before she can decide whether to go in for a hug or a handshake, Luna embraces her softly.

Luna and Ginny have been texting throughout the day about everything from school to their next movie night. It was the highlight of Ginny’s day until she saw Luna. Suddenly looking at her in her denim overalls and light pink tee shirt, with her blonde hair pulled back and a sunflower tucked just behind her ear, Ginny thinks of Sirius’ words and knows; having romantic feelings for Luna could never be a waste of time, and even if Luna never returns her feelings, just being around her makes her happy.

Luna seems just as excited to see Ginny. “I came over to see you tonight. I thought I’d surprise you and we could have dinner, but Nev said you had work. So, here we are, we thought we could keep with the plan and surprise you while we eat dinner.”

“Well it’s definitely a surprise. Why don’t you two sit over here, and when things die down, I’ll join you,” Ginny says as she guides her friends to a round table toward the back with four chairs.

Luna and Neville sit down, and Ginny assures them that she’ll put their orders in right away—no need to worry about paying, it’s on the house. Neville and Luna have been texting back and forth sparingly since the first meeting that Luna had attended. Luna had originally had a lot of questions about what it meant to be demisexual and how she could better deal with some of her emotions and talk to her friends and family about it. Luna didn’t worry too much about that though, her family just included her dad, and she didn’t have any real friends, not until Ginny and Neville.

“So how’s the article coming along?” Neville asks. He knows how nervous she is about her first byline.

“Oh I submitted it a few days back. I really tried to shine a light on some of the clubs that don’t get a lot of attention. I was surprised at how many clubs only have three or four members. I did give LGBTQ+ a mention towards the end, though, so that people know there is a safe space to go.” Luna is very proud of the article; she expected it to be a mess but writing always has come quite easy to her.

“That’s great. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. So how is your experiment going?” Luna has been very interested ever since Neville told her he was trying to genetically modify two plants together to create something new.

“I still haven’t decided which two to fuse yet. I’m still in the research phase. I think I want it to be with aloe vera though.” Luna’s eyes get wide when he says this and a smile creeps onto her lips. He doesn’t know why this is so amusing to her, so he just stares at the entrance to the kitchen, where it looks like Ron and Percy are arguing.

“BOO!!!” Neville nearly jumps out of his seat. Sirius is standing behind him as he swiftly scares the boy. Luna is laughing so hard she has to put her fist up to her mouth. The look on Neville’s face and the disposition of Sirius is overwhelmingly entertaining. After a few seconds, trying to return his breathing to normal Neville pulls out one of the chairs for Sirius to sit down. 

“Sorry Longbottom, I can never resist,” Sirius says as he sits down in between the two students.

“It’s alright, I’ll get you back,” he teases Neville always has a good time with Sirius. He and Remus helped Neville’s grandmother take care of him after he lost his parents, so Sirius has always been more of a crazy uncle to Neville.

Sirius then turns his attention toward Luna. “Your friend here seems to be on my side.”

“I’m Luna, Coach Black. We met on society day.”

“Aww yes, Luna Lovegood, writer for the school paper. How could I forget?”

Ginny comes over and sets down two boats full of chips on the table, with a few pieces of fish as well. “Here you go. Hey Coach! What on earth are you wearing?” She gestures to his shirt, which has a drawing of a blonde man in armor holding another dark-haired man.

“It’s Merthur!!” Sirius sounds offended that Ginny even has to ask, but Ginny is even more surprised to hear Luna answer at the same time, with the same fervor.

Ginny looks over to Luna for some more information. Luna complies. “Have you never watched Merlin?!”

Ginny shakes her head in shame. Neville is quite enjoying the moment.

“Why would I?” Ginny tries to defend herself but she’s dug herself in now.

“Why would you? It’s one of the best shows ever made,” Sirius replies, and then Luna starts right after him.

“Oh, yeah!!! Ginny!! How could you? It’s definitely one of the best. I can’t believe you’ve never watched it!! Merlin and Arthur’s relationship is perfect!! And MORGANA!!!” Luna swoons on Neville very dramatically and he catches her, playing into her dramatics.

Ginny wants to join her in her swooning but then gets a wonderfully wicked idea. “Well if you love it so much, I guess you’re just going to have to come over every night and binge it with me!!” Ginny has a grand smile on her face.

Luna stops her swooning and her eyes widen in excitement and she jumps up and down in her seat clapping her hands. “OHHH yes, yes, yes!!! I have the boxed sets; I’ll bring over the first season tonight!!”  
“The whole first season in one night?” Ginny definitely doesn’t mind that.

“Well, we’ll start it tonight,” Luna says, biting into a piece of fish.

Ginny’s mum comes up to Sirius and hands him a bag of take away items and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks Moll.”

“No problem. Everyone enjoying their food?” Molly asks the table.

Luna nods her head and Neville answers her, “Yes Mrs. Weasley. Thank you.”

”Always the charmer, Neville.” Molly gives him a wink and a pat on the shoulder before going back to the kitchen.

Sirius gives Ginny a little nudge and a wink before he leaves and says quietly, “Happy to help.”

Ginny turns around to go back to the kitchens, and Sirius picks up his takeaway and heads home.

Later that night Luna shows up at Ginville with crisps and Merlin season one with a look on her face that Ginny wouldn’t mind seeing everyday for the rest of her life. The two girls seem to have started a routine, because Luna walks straight to Ginny’s bedroom and puts the bag of crisps on the bedside table. Ginny has already poured them tea, and they slither into Ginny’s bed where the laptop is set up. Ginny places the disc into the computer and presses play.

****

“I can’t believe September is almost over!! How does time pass by so fast and yet we’re still in school?!” Ron comments to Harry, who is sitting next to him waiting in the hall for Hermione to be finished with a meeting for Black Pride Club.

“Right!!” Harry responds while getting together some of the LGBTQ+ Halloween Party flyers. Ginny and Luna walk in together and head over to the two boys who look very out of place in the room.

“Hey Gin. Hey Luna,” Harry and Ron say together. Harry hands Ginny the flyer and then asks, “How do they look?”

Ginny reads the flyer and starts laughing. “‘The safe place to be scary?’ Who came up with that?”

“I did!!” Ron puffs out his chest.

“Ron did!!” Harry says at the same time as Ron and points accusingly.

“Well, Ron, I love you, but that sucks!!” Ginny states and flips the flyer over. “The flyer doesn’t even have Coach Blacks’s address on it…”

Harry and Ron look at the flyer in tandem, and then at Ginny, and then at each other… “Oops.”

Ginny rolls her eyes and Luna just laughs. “Well at least our Facebook page is on here. We can post all of the info on there. Have you guys decided what you’re dressing as?”

Ron replies first. “Hermione has something planned for the three of us. What was it? I don’t know. What about you? Going as Lady Godiva again?”

“I only did that two years in a row and it was because I ruined my costume the second year,” Ginny replies, annoyed. Ron’s made that joke every year for five years. “I haven’t really…” Luna grabs Ginny’s arm and has that mischievous grin on her face.

“We should be Merthur!!” Luna exclaims, and Ginny grabs Luna’s arm in return in her excitement.

“OHHH YES!!! Oh that would be perfect!! I love it!! We’ll have to find wigs and do some thrift shopping, and minimal makeup. This is going to be so much fun!!”

“You guys would make a great Merthur!!” Harry says.

“Oh yes, and Luna’s blue eyes are perfect for Merlin. Oh and Ginny your stubbornness for Arthur is spot on!” Ron jokes and earns a slap on the head from his little sister. “Oh yes, very Arthur-esque,” Ron says after rubbing his temple, and Ginny starts to chase him around the room.

Harry turns to Luna. “Where are you guys?”

“We’re about halfway through. I think she loves it more than I do. She’s obsessed,” Luna replies.

Ginny tackles Ron right at Harry and Luna’s feet, but Harry and Luna don’t even seem phased and they continue talking as Ginny tries to pound on her brother a little longer.

“So are you two…a thing now?” Harry asks trepidatiously.

Luna looks at Harry, understanding why he asked the question, but still feeling very awkward, especially if she and Ginny have just decided to go to a Halloween party as a couple. “Umm, no. Just friends.”

Ginny has stopped making Ron’s life miserable for a moment to panic, but she realizes suddenly that she isn’t panicking. She should feel like her whole world is coming apart but she feels calm, in fact the most pressing thing on her mind is how uncomfortable she knows Luna is with this sort of stuff. She really just wants to fix it for her. Ginny pops up from the ground and sits next to Luna.

“Well thanks Harry, now you’ve done it,” Ginny says in a joking manner. “Can’t two girlfriends who aren’t romantically inclined go to a Halloween party dressed as the gayest non-gay couple in the history of television anymore?!” Ginny says with a bit of flare and gets Luna to start chuckling, and Harry just throws his hands up saying ‘sorry.’

At that moment some girls walk by whom Luna seems to recognize, and she seems to start to retract from reality for a moment.

Ginny notices and asks, “Are those the girls you were telling me about the other day?” Luna just nods her head while one of the girls yells through the hall.

“Hey Loony Lovegood!! Looks like you found the other freaks!! Do you guys have some kind hotline to find each other?”

“Why don’t you come say that to my face, Barbie!!” Ginny responds.

“Sod off!!” Ron yells at the same time.

“You’re eyeliner’s running, you might want to fix that before you go calling people Loony, cunt,” Harry says calmly.

Luna starts to laugh at what Harry said and starts feeling better already. She’s always had to find ways to avoid people that pick on her because she doesn’t like the conflict of it all, but now she has friends who’ll stick up for her. It’s a wonderful feeling.


	7. Halloween

Halloween is just a week away and Luna and Ginny are as excited as ever; their costume is almost complete and their planning for the party is ahead of schedule. Luna has been helping with food and drinks, working with Harry to make sure everything is stocked and ready for the party of the year. Ginny has been in charge of getting the word out with Cho, which she hasn’t been too happy about. Neville has been helping Remus plan for decorations which may have gotten out of control. They have a map for each room of the house and which decoration will go precisely where. Everything seems to be coming together better than ever, which is usually about the time everything starts to fall apart.

“You don’t think something’s going to go wrong?” Ginny asks Luna as they sit at the fish and chips shop. Ginny has the day off so they’ve been trying to wrap all of their plans up in a neat little bow.

“I have faith that if something does go wrong, we’ll work it out. Together,” Luna says confidently. “Our costumes are perfect. I’ve already bought all of the food and drinks we’ll need at the party that won’t go bad—plenty of crisps and cheeses—and Neville and Remus could plan a coup of the whole country and be successful, I think. No need to worry about the decorations. The party will be a hit. Just like always.” Luna puts her hand on top of Ginny’s to calm her down a bit.

“I’m sorry,” Ginny responds as she puts her other hand on top of Luna’s, who puts her other hand on top of that one, creating a mountain of hands on the table. She knows if Harry and Ron were here, they would join in to create some new game of hand stacking. This thought makes her mind start to drift away from her worries and does help calm her down. “I just feel like everything has been going so smoothly, school, football, the club…something has to be coming.”

“Well, if it comes, it comes no matter what, so instead of focusing on what might go wrong, why don’t you enjoy the goings well for the moment.” Luna smiles and moves one of her hands from the stack to grab her water and take a sip.

“Easier said than done.”

“Why?”

“What?” Ginny looks a little surprised.

“Why is it easier said than done?” Luna says, looking into Ginny’s golden brown eyes with intent. “Look at me.” She waits for Ginny to focus in on her and then continues, “We are going to help throw this party, it’s going to be a hit, and if something goes wrong, all we do is fix it. It’s that simple. So finish your chips and let’s go pick up your sword from the drama society.” She smiles and Ginny starts to feel calm again. It’s almost like Luna has magical power of calmness or tranquility or something not as chaotic as whatever her magic would be. Luna just knows exactly what to say to calm Ginny’s nerves, or maybe it’s the trust she’s developed for her over the past few months. Because when Luna says everything will be alright, even if it’s not, Ginny believes her whole heartedly.

The girls finish their food and put all their notes away to head back to pick up a sword prop from Colin, who’s the head of the props department for the drama society. As they walk across the campus, one of the girls who seems to enjoy picking on Luna is sitting on a bench, seemingly waiting for someone. Luna pulls Ginny to the side and wants to go the long way around, but Ginny refuses and assures Luna that they’ll be fine.

As they begin, Luna notices that the girl looks up and gives them a glare, but she is alone on a bench and there are two of them. Ginny just grabs Luna’s hand and pulls her to walk quickly by. The girl on the bench rolls her eyes at Luna and says something under her breath that Luna thinks may be ‘fucking gays,’ but she can’t be sure.

****

Halloween comes before any of them know it, and they’ve been spending the past three days decorating Coach Black and Professor Lupins’ house, which isn’t far from the school. Ginny looks at herself in the mirror, still wearing her school clothes. She’s been waiting for this day all month. When Luna brought up the idea of them dressing as a ‘couple,’ even just as friends, Ginny’s heart burst. She loves the thought of her and Luna as a couple, as a team, and if this is the closest she’ll ever get, she is okay with that.

Her read tunic top lies on her bed next to her chainmail and prop sword and her blonde wig. She starts to put her hair up but she’s having trouble getting it all to stay down. She calls Neville in to help.

Neville walks into her bathroom all done up. He’s got a bolt of lightning painted over his eye and some slick leather pants on, in true Bowie style.

“I can’t get it all in the hair net,” Ginny huffs.

“Here!! Sit still.” Neville grabs her head and knocks away her hands, which are trying to pull and tuck her hair in different places. He makes a few adjustments and then sets his hands on his hips, looking fabulous in the mirror. With a smile he says, “There. Some patience is all you need, Weasley!”

“Well, patience isn’t my favorite virtue.”

“Says the least virtuous person I know?!” Neville jokes and earns a hard slap on the shoulder with the back of Ginny’s hand. It makes a louder sound than she meant it to, and Neville rubs the area where a bruise will surely form. “You’re stronger than you look.”

Ginny is about to apologize when the two stop at the sound of a knock on their door. Ginny looks to Neville and gestures her head toward the door. He leaves to answer it and she tries to put on the chainmail before Luna comes inside.

“Damn. No wonder they had servants; this stuff is hard to get on,” Ginny mentions to herself as she struggles.

“Let me help you with that, sire,” Luna says with a smirk on her face. Ginny stops trying to get the chainmail on and looks up to see Luna looking perfect. She is already dressed in a brown jacket, over a blue tunic that makes her eyes shine like the sky on the first day of spring. Her red neckerchief sits perfectly around her neck and her dark-haired wig brings out her pale skin a little more, and Ginny notes that it makes Luna’s lips look even more pink than normal.

Ginny lets Luna help her put the chainmail on. It isn’t real but it’s still heavier than she thought it’d be, and it doesn’t even cover most of her chest because she was planning on wearing the red tunic over the chainmail; she’d had her mum help her sew the Pendragon symbol onto the tunic in gold and is very proud of it.

After Luna finally fits the blonde wig onto Ginny’s head, she lets her hands fall down to Ginny’s shoulders and she grips tight. “You look worthy of the whole of Albion,” Luna says and then bows to her ‘king.’

“There is no way we are not winning the couples costume contest!!” Ginny declares as she turns the both of them to look at themselves in the mirror and wraps an arm around Luna’s shoulder.

Ginny, Luna, and Neville arrive at the party a little early. Only people from the club have arrived. Neville sees Harry, who is dressed as Freddie Mercury, and feels the need to take the piss particularly because of his false moustache, so he veers off.

“YOU DIDN’T!!!” Ginny and Luna hear Coach Black yell from across the room. They both turn around to see what happened, and he is looking straight at them. He’s standing there with Remus and they are both dressed as Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

They walk toward each other, and Remus is the first to speak. “You two look absolutely picture-perfect.”

“Like you were meant to be!!” Sirius adds, and Remus gives him a small nudge, barely noticeable.

“Thanks!! We worked so hard on it. Chainmail is easier to find than you might think,” Luna replies.

“We really want to win the couples contest. Any other couples dressed up?” Ginny asks.

“Hermione and Ron are dressed up, but their costume is a bit of a mess,” Sirius says, getting another nudge from Remus. Ginny reacts straight away.

“Oh yes. I saw his Riddler costume. I can’t believe he went with the Jim Carey costume over the Heath Ledger one. Hermione texted me a picture of her Catwoman costume, but I haven’t seen it on her.”

“She looks great,” Cho adds from behind them. “Ron on the other hand…”

Ginny is about to turn around and scold her for saying anything about her older brother, even if he is a huge tosser, but Luna intervenes before she can say anything she regrets.

“Well you look very…ooh, I’m sorry Cho. You look nice but I’m not sure what you’re supposed to be. It doesn’t really look like a costume.” Luna looks her up and down. She just has her hair a little more fluffy than usual and she is wearing all black.

“It looks better when Cedric is around. We’re Edward and Bella.” Sirius rolls his eyes almost as hard as Ginny does and Luna just looks at her with a look like there is some inside joke.

“Do you want to go into the kitchen and get something to drink?” Luna asks Ginny, trying to get away from Cho. Ginny nods and they walk into the kitchen, leaving Cho with Coach Black and Professor Lupin.

“Thanks for that,” Ginny says to Luna once they’re alone.

“No problem.” Luna starts to pour them both a drink. “I know how you get around her, and seeing as we just got here, I thought we could put a pin in it.” She hands Ginny some spiked pumpkin juice.

“Well, you truly are the Merlin to my Arthur aren’t you?” Ginny says, and then immediately regrets it. Even though she meant it in a friendly way, she knows how she truly feels and after saying it; it just feels like she’s betrayed her own emotions. Luna, however, doesn’t seem to be phased by it. She just smiles and agrees with her.

“I’ll always look out for you Gin, especially when you don’t even know it…Did that sound creepy?” She hunches up her shoulders and lets a smirk fall onto her face while she takes a shot of scotch. “WooH! That’s strong.” She tips the bottle toward Ginny, as if to ask if she wants a shot, but Ginny just holds up her pumpkin juice with a look of satisfaction.

The rest of the night goes better than could have been expected. Ginny and Luna laugh and stick by each other the whole night. They miraculously avoid Cedric and Cho and even become the undisputed billiards champions of the night. The party seems busier than it has been in recent years, and everyone is having a wonderful time.

Once a good amount of alcohol had been consumed and Ginny and Luna beat Ginger and Scary Spice, Ginny stands up on a chair and declares unsteadily, “We are the champions. Bow down mere mortals, for I am the king of Camelot and I will bring peace and prosperity to the land!!”

She hears Harry yell from across the room, “Here, here!!!” and everyone else at the party follows along, raising their glasses toward Ginny, who is steadying herself by holding onto Luna’s shoulder.

“The costume contest is about to start, so everyone join us near the stage in the back and if you’ve entered, we will be doing singles first and follow up with the couples, and then we will announce the winners,” Remus announced.

As everyone starts to shuffle outside, Luna pulls Ginny aside. “Are you ready?”

“I’ve never been more ready for anything!” Ginny pulls her knee up to place her foot on the chair she had just addressed the people from, and she lets her chin tilt up in the smuggest of ways.

“Oh my!! I think this chainmail is giving you some extra…well...” Ginny looks at her expectantly, and Luna just smiles at her drunken friend. Ginny seems to be expecting an insult, so Luna decides to go a different route. “You’re pretty.”

“Do you really think so? I hope you do, you know,” Ginny admits but doesn’t quite realize what she’s saying. She swings her arm around Luna in a friendly manner and Luna drags her outside to watch the singles costume contest.

They are halfway through the contestants by the time they get outside, and after seeing some pretty inventive costumes, two Queens, three Doctors, a penguin that looks like it was put together this morning, and a very well done Gandalf, the voting is open.

“Alright we’ll start to collect the ballots while our couples come to the stage,” Remus declares from the center of the make-shift stage they built in their yard.

Ginny and Luna stand up to get in line. Cho and Cedric are already up there. They have no business in the costume contest; they’ve barely done anything. Fred and George start walking up, and Ginny already knows what’s about to happen.

“You two are not entering this contest!! I want to win!!” Ginny complains to her two older brothers.

“Well you should’ve thought of that before inviting us,” Fred says casually.

“You’ve got a chance, I think,” George adds while grabbing the chainmail on Ginny’s arm, raising her arm up to his eye level. “This looks like it could be real.” He drops her arm. “Maybe not…”

“You haven’t got a chance baby sis,” Fred concludes.

Ginny just rolls her eyes and looks to Luna, who tries to support her friend. “We’ve got a chance. I mean look at them—I don’t even know what they are supposed to be.”

“We’re actually the spirit animal from Coco,” Fred says.

“What’s Coco?” Luna asks.

“It’s an American cartoon about Mexico.”

Luna is confused. She’s never even heard of such a movie, and the twins don’t even look like animals. They have different colored feathers draping over them and some other very colorful green, red, and orange fabrics sewn together with what looks like LED light strings woven throughout and some glitter glued onto certain spots. She doesn’t understand Ginny’s concern though; it looks a little shoddy to Luna.

The girls are called to the stage, and some people scream in delight. Others seem to have no idea who they are, but it seems to be a pretty positive reaction. Then Fred and George take the stage.

Fred looks over to Sirius, who is standing on the side of the stage and giving him a thumbs up. Sirius turns all of the lights off, and Fred bends down and spreads the makeshift wings he has for pants. George bends over him, creating the back half of the hippogriff-looking creature, and suddenly the LED lights that line their costume turn on as they become one and the different colored lights light up the whole yard, making the fabric with glitter on it shine like magic. It is truly a beautifully thought out costume, and once everyone seems to be done ooing and awing over the bright and awe inspiring costume, one of the wings reaches up and pulls on something, and an explosion of glitter and ribbon burst out over the crowd of onlookers.

After Luna is done being enamored with the boys’ costume ,she looks over at Ginny, who is sitting with her arms crossed and a pout on her lips that is almost as intriguing. “I guess that’s why you were worried.” Ginny just nods. “We may still win. I think we’ve got a shot.”

Ginny decides to wait for the winners to be announced, and then if they lose they’ll leave. There isn’t much other contentious competition. She suddenly realizes that Ron and Hermione weren’t in the lineup and looks around for them.  
“I think they scampered off about ten minutes ago. I saw them heading towards the coat closet,” Neville says.

An announcement from Remus, center stage, interrupts Ginny’s thought process. “And the winner for the singles costume contest is Prom Queen!!” A thunderous applause washes over the crowd and a beautiful woman gets up to take the stage. She has long blonde hair and beautifully sculpted eyebrows that Ginny is surely jealous of. Her makeup is perfect and her dress flows off of her like an elven princess when suddenly, like the applause from the crowd, shock washes over Ginny when she gets a better look at the woman.

“What!! Prom Queen?!!? All she did was do her makeup nice and put on a nice dress…what a cock up!!” Luna angrily blurts out, looking to Ginny to join her in her anger, but finds a look of astonishment instead.

“Oh my, Merlin!!” Ginny says to Luna. “That’s Draco Malfoy!!”

Luna’s mouth drops and her head whips back to look a little more closely. Sure enough, it is Draco wearing a dress with hips and tits.

“Quite impressive!! Little disappointing,” Ginny remarks.

“‘Cause Nev didn’t win?” Luna asks.

“No. Those tits were impressive.” Ginny shrugs as Draco accepts his prize. “Too bad they’re fake.” Luna laughs.

“And the winner of the couples contest is Spirit Animal!!”

Ginny and Luna both seem to lose their breath even though they both expected to lose.

“Ready to head out?” Ginny asks, and Luna nods as she rises to her feet.

They both hug Neville and go to find Harry to say goodbye, who is standing with Remus and Sirius. After they’ve said their goodbyes, they head over to grab their coats and head home. It’s late and Luna is a little pissed, so they decide it best to spend the night at Ginville. Ginny goes to open the door to the coat closet and screams as her hands fly up to cover her face.

Luna turns quickly to see what Ginny is screaming at and sees a very naked Hermione with her hands gripped to the closet rod and Ron’s bare arse facing them.

“My eyes!!! My eyes!!!!” Ginny screams as she turns away from the closet, and Luna tries to look away for sheer decency. Sirius and Remus come running to see what’s happened. Ron has grabbed a coat by this point to cover his girlfriend (they couldn’t find her catsuit) and pulled his trousers back up.

“Well, here is another memorable Halloween party down in the books,” Sirius remarks, as Remus just stares at his husband as if he is just done.

“You know what?” Ginny says, while still covering her eyes with one of her hands. “I don’t need a coat. Do you?” Ginny looks toward where she thinks Luna is. Although she is completely wrong, Luna knows she is regarding her.

“I’ll just grab my coat, here.” Luna grabs her coat. “And your coat is covering your brother's girlfriend’s naked body, so I think we can go…if you’d like.”

“Yup. Yup. Yup.” Ginny uses her other hand to fetch Luna. Luna grabs Ginny’s hand—for a footballer she has a terrible sense of coordination, Luna thinks—and tries to lead her toward the door.

****

It’s been almost three months since Halloween, and mostly everyone is in a romantic spirit. Valentine's day is coming up, and everyone has been sorting out their plans for the special night.

Ginny and Luna are both lying on Ginny’s bed, snacking on crisps and drinking some pumpkin juice. They’ve been lying there for hours, talking about everything from the holidays that just passed to the upcoming exams they have.

“I usually stay home and watch movies with Neville. Even when I have a partner, it’s just something we’ve always done. You can join us if you want. I’m sure Nev would love some more company,” Ginny says, answering Luna’s offhand question about her plans for Valentines.

“Well actually, I have a date of sorts,” Luna says nonchalantly, which nearly gives Ginny a heart attack.

Trying to act as calm and collected as she can, Ginny asks, “A date, eh? Well. That. I mean. Wow. A date. You didn’t tell me. I didn’t…so you’re dating? Okay. Didn’t know that…wow, really? I didn’t, I mean…” Ginny doesn’t come off as calm, cool, or collected in any way.

“It’s with my da,” Luna says, trying to keep in her laughter at Ginny’s reaction. “Ever since…” The smile suddenly fades from her face and she seems somber. Ginny takes notice and moves a little closer, not touching the other girl, but just close enough to show her support if needed. “Ever since my mum died, we’ve always spent the day together. I don’t want him to feel alone, and it’s the day after my birthday, so we do a little dinner and exchange gifts, which are usually just for me, but I try and get him something small.”

Ginny has a look of shock on her face and for a few seconds all she can do is shake her head.

“Your birthday?! I didn’t know your birthday was coming up. I would’ve planned something.”

“No. I don’t really celebrate my birthday like that. I don’t like people to know. It’s just something I do with my da, that’s all.” Luna still looks a little upset.

“Right, if you don’t want to do anything, that’s fine.” Ginny says, and drops a hand on Luna’s thigh to let her know she’s sincere. Luna looks up and smiles.

Ginny gets lost for a moment in Luna’s eyes. Her eyes always light up when she smiles like that. A safe and comforting look that makes Ginny feel right at home. Usually when Ginny recognizes these feelings, she tries to shut them down, make herself feel guilty in a way. She feels as if she’s betraying her friend with her feelings, knowing that Luna will probably never feel anything more than friendship toward her. This time, however, she lets herself feel it. She lets herself feel comforted by Luna’s smile and thinks for just a second that Luna may be feeling the same thing. Maybe she should just lean forward and claim those beautiful lips for herself.

“CuPpA?!?!” Ginny shouts as her voice falters a bit. She clears her throat a little. “I mean, I could do with a cuppa. You like one?” She smiles, trying to cover her guilt.

Luna looks at her, and Ginny worries she can see right through her. She tilts her head to the side, as if everything Ginny was thinking is written all over her body and Luna is taking the time to read every line. “Sounds nice,” she replies after a few moments of examination.

Ginny gets up to make some tea. When she reaches the kitchen, she lets out a long sigh and breathes in deeply, trying to find some air for her lungs to work with. She puts the kettle on and grabs a few cups and then starts to clean the counters. She needs something to do with her hands. She hasn’t almost kissed Luna in a long time. She’s slightly upset with herself for even letting it get to that point. When she hears something behind her, she turns around and sees her friend standing there, leaning over the counter and watching her clean.

“Are you alright?” Luna asks with a very concerned look.

Ginny isn’t sure what to say. Maybe she should tell her everything. She has gotten so close to Luna over the past six months, and she’s never felt so close to someone. Her friendship is like a cool breeze on a hot summer day, like a relief in time of confusion and stress. She would be devastated if she lost her. It has been a little too long for a dismissive answer though. She decides to shrug and tell her a piece of truth.

“I’m not going to tell you that I am okay, because I’m not sure that I am. I’m feeling a little confused about some things and I just need to work that out. So I’m sorry if I come off a bit strange sometimes, but I can assure you that it isn’t to do with you, meaning that you didn’t do anything to cause it. Although sometimes you may remind me of it. But…I can't tell you about it. Not yet anyway. Is that alright?”

Luna tilts her head and pushes herself from the counter, making Ginny flinch a bit. Luna walks over to her, pulls her into a hug and says, “You have been the best friend I have had in my entire life. Ginny,” she pulls back to look the other girl in the eye, “I will always stand by your side. You are truly my Arthur and I will support you with all my heart. I love you Gin, and if you need to work something out, then I will be there for you if and when you need me. I don’t need any more information than that.”

Ginny starts to tear up and all she can do is nod. Luna continues. “You helped me realize so much about myself and my sexuality and just who I am in general. We’ve grown so close over the last few months; I mean we’ve spent nearly every day together. Doing our nails, making cosplay costumes, pranking Harry and Neville, seeing your brother’s bright white arse, which I still have burnt into my brain. I have never felt judged or anything like that from you, so please, never expect it from me. Never be scared to tell me anything. We’re in this together. Always.”

Ginny pulls Luna back into another hug and whispers through her tears, “Thank you.”


	8. The End of the Beginning

Valentines has finally arrived and Ginny and Neville have finally finished all the work they need to do. Neville walks around watering the last of his plants for the day. Ginny is in the kitchen getting together some snacks and brings them into the living area. Neville puts his watering can away and starts to lay blankets on the floor. They used to make forts in his gran’s den to watch movies when they were kids, and they’ve kept that tradition.

Ginny sticks the shower rod into the pillows of the couch to drape a sheet over and give them some cover. Neville takes every single pillow from around the dorm and tucks them neatly around the edges of the couch.

“You seem a little bothered lately. You don’t wish you were spending the night with Luna do you?” Neville asks apprehensively.

“No. It’s nothing like that. I love our Valentines together. I just…I think I realized something and it might be the worst and best thing I’ve ever realized in my entire life. So that’s just pleasant,” Ginny says dreadfully as she rolls her eyes and tries to move on from the conversation, but Neville knows her better than that.

“Best and worst, eh? What’s that?” Neville pries.

Ginny shakes her head and looks up at him. He is just staring at her. If Neville ever wanted children, they would never be able to keep any secrets. He has the ultimate mother look, even worse than Ginny’s mum sometimes. “It’s nothing.” She tries to move on.

“Nothing? The best and worst realization you’ve had is nothing? Well that’s impressive. I’m not too impressed with nothing most of the time. It isn’t very impressive, is it?”

“OKAY! You can put your passive-aggressive attitude away and I’ll talk.” Neville just smiles. “I think I’ve realized that…I’m…” She sighs, wondering if she should tell Luna first. “I’m in love with Luna.” The moment she finishes saying it, it’s like a weight has been lifted. She hasn’t felt this free all week. Neville looks as if he’s waiting for something a little more shocking. It doesn’t come, and she waits for his response.

“Well, I can see why that might be the best and worst thing, but has she shown any…?”

“I don't know!! Anything romantic goes straight over her head, so I can’t properly flirt with her. She had a terrible experience the one time she had feelings for anyone, so I do think she would be too scared to admit any feelings she may have and I’m not sure what to do. Tell me what to do!” Ginny demands.

As Neville scrunches his face, Ginny starts to panic a little. “No. Do not tell me you can’t help me! Don’t do it…don’t you do it Longbottom!!”

“I’m sorry. I just don’t have any experience here so I can’t help you. Maybe you should talk to Harry, or Lupin.”

Ginny deflates onto the couch and runs her fingers through her hair. “Oh yes. Let me just go to my ex or the man who raised him…Are those really my two best options here?”

“What about your…”

“Don’t say my mum.”

“Yeah. I think those are your two best options,” Neville says as he sets the laptop up for them to start watching ‘Lucky Number Slevin.’ Ginny huffs and settles into the pool of pillows. Neville settles in beside her and grabs a crisp as he presses play.

****

It’s been a long day and Ginny has to head to her mum’s shop for a shift. Yesterday Neville suggested that she talk with her mum about her feelings for Luna, but she knows that would be a disaster. Ginny loves her mum, of course, but she’s always so supportive that Ginny imagines her reaction would be something like, ‘how could she not love my dear sweet little girl?’ Ginny doesn’t want to hear that though. She needs some good, clean advice.

It is almost four o’clock when she arrives at the shop, and only Ron is there. She still has trouble looking at his face and not seeing his bum. She shakes off the memory and greets him.

“You the only one here?” Ginny asks.

“Da will be right back. He’s on about some conspiracy that the queen is a lizard person so you might want to steer clear.”

Ginny laughs, and nods in agreement. “Will do.”

Her father was always getting obsessed with crazy theories and conspiracies. One time when she was younger, her parents had a fight because her father wanted to fly to The States to try and break into Area 51.

Ron cleans up and tells Ginny the shop hasn’t been busy at all and that she should look forward to a night of tiktok.

“How did you know you were in love with Hermione?” Ginny blurts out.

Ron, looking a little taken aback, starts to contemplate when he realized he was in love. “I think it was when we were in secondary and she got really sick, remember? And she slipped into a coma for a few weeks. I missed her so much. I’d never realized how much I needed her to be a part of my day. Not being able to talk with her drove me mad and when I realized Harry didn’t feel the same, well…”

“What?! You were twelve weren’t you?” Ginny asks while she puts her apron on. She does not believe that her brother could have been in love for that long.

Ron laughs, “I didn’t realize it was love then, of course. I knew it was different than what Harry felt for her, and ever since then I’ve tried to make sure she knows that I treasure every moment with her. I think it did grow from there, but I’m not sure I would’ve realized—probably at some point—but that’s when my outlook changed for sure.”

“Interesting.” Ginny contemplates this new knowledge when Ron surprises her.

“Does this have to do with Luna?” he asks as he leans against the counter and tries to look sincere in his questioning. He usually just makes fun of his sister's exploits.

“Well…am I that obvious?” She looks as if her shoes have done something incredibly interesting.

“I think you can just tell about people when you’re in that state. You know?”

“Well she’s demi, so I don’t know if she’d even be interested.”

“You two have spent nearly each day together since you met. I think you’ve got a chance.”

“I think she just sees me as a friend.”

“I think she sees you as more than ‘just a friend.’ Even if that means you’re her bestest friend in the whole jolly world, you definitely are not JUST a friend.”

She finally looks up at her brother, who she had no idea could be so nice to talk to. They smile at each other and he adds, “Have you thought about talking to her?”

“What am I to say? ‘Hey Luna, I know that I told you people should respect your boundaries as a demisexual and accept that you don’t want to date or snog anyone but how about you make one exception, eh?’” She winks dramatically and waits with a bit of smugness in the air.

“How about something more along the lines of, ‘I know we’ve become really good friends, but I think I’m starting to feel something more on the romantic side and I was hoping you might be as well, but if not, I didn’t want to hide it from you because you’re my best mate and I don’t want to hide anything from you. AND if you don’t mind, if you aren’t feeling romantically inclined I would still like to be friends and continue as we are.’” He grins widely at his baby sister with pride at what he thinks is smashing advice.

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“What if she’s not interested in being friends anymore?”

Ron shakes his head considerably. “No. I’ve seen you two together and I’ve spent enough time with her as well. She’s not the type. In fact, I think she’s more the type to date you just because she doesn’t want to hurt your feelings. So there’s that.” He smiles again. Ginny is not impressed.

“Oh great. A pity girlfriend. That’s a nice thought.”

Ron shrugs as the bell above the door rings. It’s Harry in his football clothes, come to meet Ron.

“Why are you still working? I thought your shift ended at four.” Harry says to Ron.

“I was just talking with Ginny. I’m off. You ready for the game of the century?” Ron jokes.

“You know it!!” Harry looks at Ginny’s solemn demeanor and his tone changes completely. “Are you alright Gin?”

“Yeah. I’m having relationship drama.”

“Oh…you and Luna having a row?”

“What?! Why do you assume it’s with Luna?” Ginny looks shocked while she says the words, and then looks at Harry and remembers all of the times that he sat with her crying over other boys and then dating her himself. He knows her better than most people. He gives her a look and she knows exactly what he’s trying to say. “Yes. It’s Luna but we’re not having a row. Ron will explain. You two go. I think I need to be alone for a while.”

Harry looks around the shop and sees no one in sight. He hurdles over the counter and gives Ginny a big hug. “If you need anything, we’re here for you.” He pulls away slightly and looks at her, moving a piece of hair from her face. He pushes it behind her ear, looking her in the eyes and holding her shoulders tight. “I’m here.”

They smile at each other and she nods. He gives her one more look to make sure she’s alright and she gives him a more confident nod along with her best ‘I’m okay’ smile. He kisses her on the forehead and walks back around the counter. Ron throws a bag over his shoulder and as they start to walk out the door, they both look back at her and she waves them out.

****

Ginny wakes up the next day to a text message from Luna.

**(8:03am)** _Thought I’d stop by after lunch. I finished my article last night so maybe we can grab a bite or just eat crisps and work on our cosplay ideas._  
**(8:03am)** _I found some faux animal fur that will work perfectly for Fili’s coat._ 😉

Ginny doesn’t even mind being woken so early. They have been talking about cosplaying as Kili and Fili for ages.

**(8:05am) Sounds wonderful!!**

Ginny contemplates adding more. She isn’t sure if she wants to take Ron’s advice or not.

**(8:07am) Also we need to talk. Nothing bad. I just want to talk in person. 😊**

Well, no going back now.

Ginny is getting herself ready for the conversation. She’s talking into the mirror, trying to find the right words. Neville creeps into the bathroom while she's distracted and leans against the doorframe.

“So, you’re going to tell her?” Ginny jumps and turns around to glower at Neville, but he just continues. “You should’ve come to me. I can play Luna if you want.”

She loses her scowl, which turns to inspiration. “OOOH YES!! Let’s do it.” She grabs Neville by the hand and drags him to the couch in the living room. “I was thinking of doing it in my room, but maybe it would be more of a neutral space here. What do you think?”

“I think this is a great place. I can place some of my sweeter smelling plants out too—you know, help set the mood.”

“Sure.” Ginny never really understands Neville’s obsession with plants, but they have been helpful throughout the years in different ways. She starts thinking more about setting the mood. “We should start a fire as well, and have some more pillows out. And maybe you can play some music from your room so it’s subtle but it doesn’t seem like I’m pushing too hard. I don’t want it to seem like I’m pushing her into anything.”

“I think it’ll be fine. She knows you well enough by now. So how are you going to start off?”

“Okay, well I wanted to sit her down, like this.” She gestures between them. Ginny and Neville are sitting next to each other, facing each other but not touching, and Ginny sets her left arm over the back of the couch.”

“I wouldn’t do that. It might seem like you’re coming on a bit strong.”

“Really? Just having my arm on the couch?” Ginny looks back and forth between her arm on the couch and Nev’s shoulder. Neville smirks and tilts his head. “Okay. I’ll keep my arms in my lap?” He nods in approval.

“Then what?” he asks.

“Then, I think I’ll say something like, ‘Luna you and I haven’t been friends for too long, but I have cherished every single minute with you. You’ve become someone…’ no…umm…’You’re more than a friend to me and I can’t imagine my life without you. I never want to lose your friendship.’”

“I need to stop you.”

“What?! Already?”

“I’m feeling like you’re about to break up with me. Keep it more positive.”

“Okay…‘Luna, you are my best friend, and I can only imagine the shenanigans we will end up getting into together. I love every minute. I can’t wait to get the Kili and Fili costumes done so that we can start going to cons together and maybe even start a channel, like you suggested. But I need to confess something before we do any of that.’ How’s that?”

“Better. I think maybe, don’t use the word confess, maybe?”

“What am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know…admit? profess?”

“OOOH I like profess... Okay. ‘I need to profess something. I’ve been feeling slightly romantic feelings toward…’” Neville snickers. “What?!”

“Slightly romantic? Didn’t you say that you were in love with her?”

Ginny starts to feel annoyed. “Well I don’t want to come on too strong, do I? Plus, what if she denies my love? I don’t want her to think I’ll be pining forever.”

“Alright, I’ll give you that.”

“So, ‘I’ve been feeling some romantic feelings toward you and I don’t want to make you feel any pressure or anything, but I thought that I should tell you. I don’t want to hide anything from you and I feel like I’m lying to you.”

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

“Was it that bad?”

“No. I just don’t know how to respond…”

“Oh you’re useless, aren’t you?” She gives him a light plunk in the face with one of the decorative pillows on the couch. Suddenly they both freeze after a knock at the door.

They look at each other in a panic. Neville speaks first. “She’s early.”

“Well we didn’t really set a time. She gets out of her morning class at eleven.”

Neville just stares at her and then looks at the door. “Are you going to answer it?”

Ginny jumps up, almost having forgotten how to answer a door. When she opens the door, she tries to look as attractive as possible in her football jersey and shorts. She didn’t think about trying to dress up for the occasion. With a big smile to greet her friend, she sees Luna and any remnants of happiness fall from Ginny’s face.

Luna looks up at Ginny with tears in her eyes and with a scrape on her cheek. Her shirt is a little ripped and she’s frozen in the doorway.

“Come in, come in! What happened?”

“That group of girls that is always picking on me; it just went a bit too far.”

Ginny helps Luna to the couch where she was just sitting with Neville, who looks up and tries to assess the situation. Ginny kneels down in front of Luna, as she sits on the couch, assessing her wounds.

“Oh my!! Luna, this is not a bit too far!!” He is next to her on the couch while Ginny gets up to go in the kitchen.

“They’re always picking on me though, and this time I was trying to get away and they came at me. It scared me and I just fell. They never touched me or anything.”

“Still, Luna, this is not okay. Professor Lupin would be furious.”

“Please don’t tell anyone. It was my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t. It happened because those girls were making you feel unsafe. This is THEIR fault, not yours.”

“Well can we just worry about all that later, I just want to forget that it happened.”

Ginny comes back, walking smoothly, holding a rag, some ointment, a bowl of hot water with some cloudy substance in it and what looks to Luna like an aloe vera leaf.

“Here let me…” Ginny starts to dip the rag in the water as she kneels back down in front of Luna and touches it to her wounds. Neville decides to get up and put the kettle on. As she’s tending to Luna, Luna starts to really notice Ginny. She’s in a jock shirt with stripes and the Gryffindor Lions mascot on it and some sweatpants that don’t match. Her hair is pulled back loosely but with strands falling out all over the place, and her ears are sticking out a bit; it makes her look into Ginny’s eyes for some reason.

> Image Description: A drawing of Ginny and Luna in Ginny's living room. Luna wears a yeallow strapless top and bell-bottom jeans. She has a scratch on her left cheek. Ginny is kneeling in front of Luna with a rag in her hand. She wears football wear and is barefoot. Art by 32090810. End description.

She’s so focused on cleaning the wounds that Ginny doesn’t notice Luna staring. In this moment, Luna feels as though she’s finally seeing Ginny for the first time. Her caring eyes, her soft thin lips, her strong cheekbones, her slightly crooked nose littered with little tiny freckles, the way her perfume just tickles your senses, maybe a scent of rose oil and vanilla, Luna thinks. She is starting to feel safe and cared for. Ginny finally sees Luna staring, and Luna, not knowing what to do, just looks down and starts giggling, which makes Ginny smile immediately.

“I’m sorry,” Luna says, not sure if she’s apologizing for the staring or the change in plans or just the plain inconvenience of it all.

“There’s no need to be sorry, I enjoy it,” Ginny responds, smiling and wringing more liquid out of the rag. Luna starts laughing again and shaking her head.

Ginny starts to giggle with her. “What is it?”

Luna responds quickly, “I forgot that you, I mean when I came here, I didn’t even think about it, you’re into sports medicine.”

Ginny starts laughing. “Yes, see you’re helping me practice. No need to be sorry.”

Luna just sits back and watches Ginny continue to rub a mixture of the ointment and aloe vera onto the scrape on her left cheek.

“There, it should start to heal a lot sooner than normal, and this ointment will help with the pain and scarring.”

“I cannot thank you enough.”

“Really there’s no need to thank me. It was my pleasure.” She gives Luna one of her best flirty smiles and it suddenly feels to Luna like someone has released one thousand butterflies into her stomach.

“How about I buy you dinner? It doesn’t have to be tonight, maybe Friday night?”

“That sounds lovely. I’d love to.” Ginny starts laughing. “is that too much love?” Luna tilts her head to the side in confusion. “Nevermind. If you want, you can rest in my room for a bit.”

“We did have plans,” Luna says hesitantly.

“Well, I think our cosplay can wait. You need some rest, not only are you physically hurt but it was a bit traumatic. I think you need to decompress. Just rest for an hour or two. I’ll bring you some tea and biscuits.”

“You really are just like your mum,” Luna says and smiles for a short second before wincing at the pain in her cheek.

“Shush you!!” Ginny says as she smiles brightly. “C’mon then, let’s get you to bed.”

As Ginny walks Luna back to her room, she receives a giant hug, and while Luna is gripping tightly to her she starts to shake. Ginny is afraid she’s crying so she pulls back to see Luna laughing again. She has a magnificent laugh.

Luna puts her hand on Ginny’s shoulder. “Too much love, because you said love twice, and my last name.” Ginny laughs along with Luna and places her hand on Luna’s mid-back. “Thank you again Ginny. You’re the best friend I could’ve dreamed up, better even.”

Ginny pulls her in for another hug. Luna smells a little like fresh rain and aloe vera, but that’s probably Ginny’s doing. She feels Luna’s hand slip around the back of her neck and Ginny pulls away again. She looks into Luna’s beautiful blue eyes and decides to just give her a quick peck on the cheek. Not thinking clearly, however, she kisses her softly on the cheek with the wound and gets some aloe vera on her lips which makes her pull back and spit a little.

“Oh I’m sorry.” She sticks her tongue out to try and scrape the taste off. “I shouldn’t have…why don’t you lie down and I’ll bring you some tea.” She gestures toward the bed and turns heel for the kitchen.

As Luna lies down in Ginny’s bed, her mind starts to race. She’s never really noticed Ginny’s lips before, but now she can’t stop thinking about them; what they felt like on her cheek, the shape they take when Ginny smiles. ‘Oh no,’ Luna says to herself. She’s starting to have feelings. ‘OH NO!!’ she thinks. Panic starts to set in. ‘Not again, not again,’ she thinks to herself and rolls over to face the wall as she covers herself with the blanket at the edge of the bed.

These were the types of feelings that she had before. This is how it started, thinking of the other person's body, their lips, snogging…oh no. Luna tries to stay away from those thoughts but she can still feel the lingering warmth from Ginny’s kiss. Have these feelings been here all along? Has she never noticed for some reason, why did it suddenly start now? Why at the worst of times does this have to happen. Ginny has been so kind and become such a good friend. What if she isn’t interested? ‘But why would she kiss me then?’ she wonders. ‘What if she was just being motherly, though? It was just on the cheek…not very romantic, especially when she spit afterwards.’

Just then, Ginny comes in with two cups of tea and she sits on the side of the bed and places one of the cups on the bedside table.

“Luna? I brought you some tea…are you awake?”

Luna contemplates not turning around, but she decides to just go all in. If Ginny isn’t interested then maybe she can just blame it on stress or shock or something less embarrassing. She sits up and takes the tea from Ginny and leans over to set it on the bedside table next to Ginny’s cup.

Ginny watches closely as Luna places the cup down and looks Ginny in the eyes. She smiles as best she can with her cheek still hurting and she leans forward, settling her hand on Ginny’s knee, and places a kiss on the sweet thin lips that had just adorned her cheek five minutes ago.

She pulls back quickly and starts to spit. She can taste the ointment still on Ginny’s lips and now she can taste it on her tongue. “OHHH I’m so sorry. But that tastes disgusting.”

Ginny is in shock. She feels like she’s about to cry. The girl she has liked for months has just kissed her, finally, and she seems to have hated it…was she a bad kisser? Maybe she should say something, but what can she say?

“I’m sorry. I wanted to kiss you but I think I can taste the ointment from when you kissed my cheek earlier.” She does the same thing Ginny did earlier, trying to scrape the taste off of her tongue.

“OH!!” Ginny lets out a large breath of relief. “The ointment. I thought I was disgusting,” Ginny admits, still feeling like she wants to cry.

“No. OH NO!” Luna pulls Ginny into a hug. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Ginny pulls back. “No? You wouldn’t…want to…try again?” Ginny looks at Luna, eager for a response.

“Well. Maybe.” Luna looks down at her hands that are resting, one in her lap and one back on Ginny’s knee. Ginny follows Luna’s gaze and their eyes both meet at the same time. Ginny licks her lips to gauge the taste of ointment on her lips and Luna just leans in again.

Chaste at first, they just sit there for three seconds, not really moving at all, just trying to get used to this new feeling. Luna starts to move her lips a little, puckering them just a little more and then opening her mouth slightly to let Ginny decide if she’d like to go further. Ginny follows Luna’s lead and deepens the kiss, slipping her hand around Luna’s mid-back.

After snogging for a few minutes, Luna pulls back and winces again, bringing her hand up to her cheek.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Ginny looks very concerned.

“No. Not you. I think it’s just the way I’m moving my mouth. Not that I want to stop, but maybe we should.” Luna really does not want to stop.

“We should probably talk.” Ginny also looks very reluctant about the snogging stopping. “I should say, I was planning on telling you that I had feelings for you today, so this actually has taken a lot of pressure off of me.” Luna starts to laugh and grabs at her cheek again. “Sorry,” Ginny says under her breath. “Do you? Have feelings for me? Romantic ones?”

“I think so.” Luna isn’t sure if she’s saying the right thing. She wants to say the right thing. “I’ve never noticed it, until today. I was wondering when I got here but when you kissed me on the cheek, I think it made it quite obvious.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because, I’ve had people kiss me on the cheek before and I hate it, always, but when you did it…I just…” She looks down, afraid of admitting her feelings still. Ginny puts a hand over Luna’s hand that is resting on her knee, which makes Luna look back up at Ginny. “I wanted you to keep going.”

Ginny cannot contain her elation. Her smile is so wide, she feels like her face is going to be stuck like that forever. This, in turn, makes Luna smile and wince again. “I think I’ve fancied you ever since we met,” she admits finally, and it feels so good. “I thought you were so beautiful and then when I realized you were demi, I thought the feelings I was having would stop. But you’re a bloody amazing human being, do you know that?” She’s forgotten all of the things she practiced with Neville and just starts speaking from her heart. “The more I got to know you the more I fancied you, and well, you can imagine, well maybe not, but it’s been driving me insane, but I think I’m falling in love with you.” Ginny relaxes after finally getting everything out.

“OH…umm…I don’t know what it means to be in love with someone. I do love you Gin, but I don’t think that I’m in love, you get my meaning?” Ginny nods, feeling like she might cry again, but Luna continues as Ginny listens to every breath. “I think that I could, one day but I just…well I’ve never had the experience before so…” Luna shrugs, not really sure what else to say.

“I’m not looking to get married,” Ginny says, trying to make a joke, but Luna seems to back away slightly. “What I mean is, I’ve just had this realization that…I think I may be in love with you, but if you aren’t feeling that, maybe at least you’ll want to give it a go? I’d be more than happy. I can be patient, and we can do whatever you’re comfortable with.” She waits eagerly to see if Luna understands.

“I would like to…try…umm…well.” Luna sits up a little straighter and gathers her nerve as she grabs Ginny’s hands and lets out a breath. “Ginevra Weasley. Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Ginny nods her head slowly at first and the faster she begins to nod, the wider the smile on her face grows. “OH MERLIN, YES!!”


End file.
